State to settle another K40 million to Nambawan Super as employer contribution arrears

  



THE State (Government) is expected to pay another K40 million outstanding of  employer contributions to Nambawan Super fund this week.

Managing Director of Nambawan Super Leon Buskens said that the State had paid K65 million which included penalty interest, and another K40 million would be paid to Nambawan Super.  The K65m represented what Nambawan Super had already paid out on behalf of the State to members that had left employment with the public sector.

Nambawan Super is thankful for the assistance of Mr Simon Tosali, Secretary of Treasury and his team for their efforts in dealing with the issue of contribution arrears.

“The fundamental issue of under-budgetting on the part of the Government’s superannuation obligations will always give rise to the problem that is currently being faced, and I hope that this will not be the case from this year and onwards,” said Mr Buskens.

He reiterated that under the Superannuation General Provision Act 2000, employers must comply with their obligations to contribute for and on behalf of their employees and urged the State to ensure that these obligations are met.

Mr Buskens in response to a story published by Post Courier last week said failure by an employer to remit staff superannuation funds was guilty of an offense under the Superannuation Act and as stipulated, the employer is required to remit employer and employee contributions within 14 days of the date of deduction.

He said Nambawan Super's main objective was to ensure that the State as the employer of all public servants in the country must comply with it’s obligations under the Superannuation Act.

“Under the transition arrangement when the legislation was introduced, the State was liable to comply fully with the legislation to paying 100 percent employer contributions from 1^st January 2009,” Mr Buskens said.

He  said, “The Act is also specific that an entity who fails to comply with Section 78 is guilty of an offense and under Section 79; the Fund has the powers to recover interest on default and the penal rate of interest is 5 percent above the 28 day Treasury Bill rate over the period of late payment."

Leon Buskens

Managing Director