Cabinet has finally approved the long awaited new retirement age for the civil service from 55 years to 65.
ZANIS reports that Secretary to the Cabinet Dr. Roland Msiska announced this in Kasama yesterday when he addressed Provincial heads of Government departments.
Dr. Msiska said the new retirement age will enable Government to restructure the pension scheme so that retiring workers do not become destitute after formal employment.
He observed that the new pension scheme would have a lot of benefits to public service workers as their pension funds accumulate significantly.
Dr. Msiska observed that Government is discouraging the payment of lump sum to retirees due to past experiences where workers failed to utilize funds prudently.
The PF government had since coming to power indicated that it would increase the retirement age to 65 years from the traditional 55 years saying some of the human resource is being wasted by the most workers retiring at the age of 55 years.
However, this move had been received by mixed feelings among sections of society with some stating that the retirement age should conform with the country’s life expectancy of about 36 years due to HIV/AIDS pandemic .
Meanwhile the Secretary to the cabinate has called for increased productivity among public service workers in the country in order for the country to grow its economy.
He said it is imperative that government workers observe high levels of integrity and professionalism in discharging their duties.
Dr. Msiska stated that civil service has a lot of qualified and competent personnel who should work hard and help Government provide quality service delivery to all Zambians.
The Secretary to the Cabinet urged public service workers to support the government of the day and adopt a positive attitude towards work.
He further said he is ready to reform the civil service in order to it more efficiently in its operations.
ZANIS
ITS A SAD DAY FOR YOUTH,AS THIS WILL KEEP ALOT OF PEOPLE IN EMPLOYMENT EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE HAD THEIR TIME!!
GOVT EMPLOYEES SHOULD RETIRE AT 60 SO THAT THEY CAN PAVE WAY FOR THE YOUTH…BAMAKAKA
55 years was very ok for public service workers, consider a police officer retiring at 65 can he chase and apprehend a thief who could be a youth, we need to retire while still active and work for our selves and plan now, politicians don’t retire but as for public workers no option it has to be 55. I rest my case.
So you work for NAREP in South Africa. If you live here then you should know that the country’s retirement age is 65 despite a similar life expectancy with Zambia. So whats bugging you with Zambia doing what her neighbours do? This certainly doesnt call for your insults
IT MEANS NO MORE EMPLOYMENT FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS FOR THE YOUTHS WHO WERE DANCING DONCHI KUBEBA. MEANING THE PF GOVT WONT SPEND ON RETIREMENTS .
All Jobs like Directors, Principals, Chief account, Heads of departments possibly be on five year term. After that you go back as a senior civil servant/staff. This means that the higher qualification you have the more money you get. If with my PhD i get the money i want, what can make me not work as research at small institutions like Zambia college of agriculture or work as an extension office in rural area with farmers where my specialization is required. It sadden me to see the whole lot of a PhDs persons taking up administration offices and only Job they have is signing cheques and forging receipts; telling workers that there is no money
Highest paid Job should senior govt officers. Directors voted in for certain period. No one will employ relatives and result in less corruption.
This doesn’t make any sense. They want more bald headed individuals in offices.The situation will make it difficult for youths to be employed because for the position to be vacant, you’ll have to wait until the bald headed passes on!
I`m sitting on the fence on this issue.Though 55 was a bit unfair(People are still energetic at 55) i still feel 65 is way above the mark again.When are the young ones going to work if you maintain those old men in those positions ?
Mwata, one thing for sure is that if you are a youth, you won’t be in support of this idea, but old men are 100% behind it
I’m a youth and believe that my fellow youth should get off their behinds and be innovative instead of waiting for the exits of the 65yrs old fellas. We give them reason not to engage us seriously.
I agree with you.
On this PF I am not with you. The year of retirement is just too much. Why cant you reduce it at most 6o years? Please let our young people also have chance to serve. The 65 years is not welcome dear PF, please re-think about this.
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
@Higher Taller elders don’t quarrel with kids Ndemona bupuba fye.
This is great! 55 is ridiculous. I work with alot of 70 year olds! What are you doing sitting on your laurels at age 55?
And whats the life expectance in zambia? before you even talk about retirement age…HAHAHAHAH
@5.1 Ndobo – Life expectancy in Zambia (source: CIA the World Factbook)
total population: 51.51 years
country comparison to the world: 216
male: 49.93 years
female: 53.14 years (2013 est.)
@Ricky Bobby
whoa! thanks if thats true and accurate..
just wondering what amount of productive energy has 60yrs old ZAMBIAN got to continuing working underground in those mines? or any other ordinary job,,, am not talking about some minister who gets driven around and can take a break to rest any time,,, kakakakakhahahahah
And Those ARVs shortages whoa! kaya! bananan republic of zambia
Ndo bo U have. A primitive understanding of employment. Employment isn’t restricted to manual labour. Whitew colour jobs demand no sweat But have the same retirement age. Sir Alex Fergusom a manager was much over 65.But still delivered much better than all 23 year olds In england put together.
@higher taller
You are the one with a chicken understanding! how do you support an sweeping declaration like that,, when you know that certain sections of employment one cant work up to 65yrs while others one can work upto 65yrs,,,
Get yourself human head and take off the chicken head
Ndobo go re-do your comprehension skills with your Dongo na Sundu. Then come and read everything here. There are no ciivil servants employed underground. The govt is increasing retirement age for Civil Servants. So Oldman where do you get your argumenT for a 60 yeAr old working underground? And this penchance for trading Insults wIth kids?
@Higher Taller elders don’t quarrel with kids Ndemona bupuba fye.
this is very sad development especially for the youth, just imagine a police office at 64 chasing a criminal. comedy
Positive move Pf….let the old folks with experience run the country, good development move.. this will encourage youth to Universities and study further so that we have a crop of educated cadres…..Pabwato chabe!!
In short, there will be no new retirees for the next ten years! More money in the Ministers’ pockets. No new jobs creation by one of the types of natural wastage components [Retirement] for the Youths. By the time people begin to retire, Sata and his Police Force [PF] government would have already vacated Office and handed power back to the Zambian government – the suffering masses.
It is really high time we installed a government of the people, rather than having a government of the party [PF].
This is just fine. Just create more jobs.. Who said jobs are a succession? They are not for crying out loud..!!!
its sad that most of us youths wont and will never join the civil service. 10 additional years is a long time.
People who are saying life expectancy is at 36 and are against the retirement age of 65 are contradicting themselfs. if it is true that life expectancy is 36 then we expect to lose a lot of people before retirement age then let us allow those who can reach 65 to continue
Arguments on the issue of retirement require correct demographic analysis. If one examines the age pyramid for Zambia based on the 2010 census, it shows that Zambians aged over 55 years make up only 5.5 percent of the total population of the country; those above 60 years, only 4 percent; and those above 65 years, only 2,7 percent. What this simply means is that 94.5 percent of the population is below 55 years. Given these facts, how can one argue that by raising the retirement age to 65 years, older people will be blocking the career progression of younger people? So few blocking so many?
Very intelligent argument. Can All the foo ls arguing against this come here and read this if they can understand it?
I agree with you to the higher extent but
Older people shouldn’t be used as scapegoats for the high youth unemployment levels. The problem is of youth unemployment is largely due to the fact there are too many young people entering the labour market and competing for the very few jobs available. Why are there so many youths? This is simply because Zambian women are giving birth to too many children. On average, a woman in her reproductive years in this country gives birth to 6 children. It is not older people, past menopause, who should be blamed for this!! The culprits responsible for producing more children are young sexually active men and women.
What younger people should also realize is that among these 5.5 percent of those above 55 years are some very highly educated Zambians with doctorates in specialized fields like medicine, physics, chemistry, economics, et cetera. Do you just retire such people just because they are over 55 years to satisfy a young graduate thirst for a job? Age per se shouldn’t be a factor in retaining someone in the labour force. Retain someone regardless of age as long as they have the desire, motivation, and passion for the work they do. In American and European universities, you still find elderly professors, some in their eighties, who are even more active and productive in both teaching and research, compared to their younger colleagues.
At UNZA there is a shortage of lecturers especially in the school of Engineering and we are crying about youth unemployment. Its paradox!
I agree with your argument to a large extent although some elderly people are way too wasted both in terms of appreciating new ways of doing things as well as in exerting themselves on the job. Also given the poor calibre of graduates that are being churned of of our universities and colleges, you have no choice but to keep the higher calibre, older people on the job. Even on these same blogs, its easy to tell one from the old school from the ‘youth’. Their English…eish, attitude… Worse!!
“However, this move had been received by mixed feelings “
Mixd feelings He receives news
This is very sad indeed, it should have stayed the way it was at 50yrs! Life expectancy in Zambia is between 37 – 43, so most of those chaps will be dying in offices. When will the youth get a chance to work in govt? It is indeed donch kubeba zoona, I foresee a lot of us graduates languishing in the streets of Lusaka. The cabinets is full of people above 50 and they are only thinking about them bellies! Hopeless cabinet!
More jobs….
65 years old is a right age for people to retire. However, the government need to have proper succession planning agreements in place. In order to reorgnise the work force, Nigeria did a very good exit for a lot of people. any one who was a director, and has been working for 25 or 30 years was asked to leave so that young people could be recruited. It was done in all ministres.
So my bad hearted boss we all thought would go in three years’ time now has 13 more years to go. AGONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL, Mind you it could have be worse. Imagine the agony of discovering that the old sadistic boss who retired three years ago has re-applied for his old job and is coming back for another seven with a vengeance.
Too much unpopular and harsh decisions at the same time will hurt pf in 2016 election.
So, it means anyone who was retired in the last 10 years can re-apply for their old jobs should they fall vacant, and resume work till they reach 65. It also means, if they have fallen on hard times in their retirement and are desperate, they can even apply and take jobs lower in rank than their former ones, which means some may find themselves reporting to their former subordinates. This gives a whole new meaning to the adage ‘ Be careful who you kick on your way up because they will kick you twice as hard on your way down’.
this one real bad now although its serving cost measure yabija eyi mudala.
WHY WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT MADE IN A SMALL TOWN SOMEWHERE? MOST OLD MEN WILL DIE BEFORE RETIREMENT. ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEIR NEXT OF KINS TO ACCESS BENEFITS. GOOD COST SAVING MEASURE.
This move was not unexpected when you consider how many retirees are in the PF Cabinet. Sata, Scott, Chikwanda, Kasonde and many others are quite old. But most importantly, it is an abdication of responsibility on the part of PF because they don’t want to pay the pension benefits to those that are due retirement. They are passing the buck to the next government.
Retain professionals and retire labourers for youths
Zambian life. People rewrite G12, gets 3 yrs diploma after 2 yr certificate. however, spent 4 yrs rewriting. works 5 yrs, gets UNZA , 4 yrs and works another 5 yrs, masters 2 yrs and works 3 yrs goes back PhD 4 yrs he fights to get promoted because he/she still getting a salary of diploma. two yrs later you retire. who has lost. schooling 19 yrs+12=31 yrs
The Govt and people have lost out.
It takes time to have specialized qualification. Some people get retired while doing Masters degree.
Do worry about 65 olds, just report them if they start stealing and get fired.
In Zambia what matters most is your academic qualification even if your contribution to your organisation is ZERO. Once you have some high papers you can sit back and as time passes you get promoted. That’s the reason why everyone in parastatals is busy studying and not working. We also disrespect important trades like artisans and the like. That’s why we cant even build our own stadium. We have to import labour even to build manda hill and levi park.
This is really laughable , ati….i’ll reform the civil service.Iwe Dr Msiska show us even a certificate in human resources !Your only qualification you have apart from been a medical doctor is that you are a personal friend to Mtembo nchito and former class mate of Christine Kaseba and that’s how you got your job.You possess no managerial skills or expertise at that level.You are the worst SG just like your boss is the worst president Zambia has ever had.You do not compare to Dr Kanganja and the like .He had the experience and the skill to run the civil service.Increasing the retirement age alone is not the answer ,you could have looked at introducing other employment contracts like permanent part time and casual employment unlock jobs to the youths even on half salaries,think…
Good analysis on the SC’s qualifications; first and foremost he is Mutembo Nchito’s good friend and church mate.
How has cabinet concluded an issue which was under constitutional debate and overwhelmingly rejected? PF is going the Chiluba way and come 2016, their popularity will disappear unless they manipulate the constitution to a one party state. Otherwise how can we have confidence in the constitution making process if cabinet starts making decrees that have been rejected by major stakeholders?
..continued…..of your children.Generally people above the age of 50 like yourself and Ukwa ,the energy levels are very low ,hence in the western world you find people in that age group work maybe only two or three times a week or even once.the rest of the days are taken up by younger employees earning even 50 or 75 % of the substantive salary but gaining much needed experience .This useless PF government does things in a retrogressive manner.Changing the retirement in a piecemeal manner is not only dull but st.upid, laws governing employment needed to be amended before rushing to Kasama to make a major announcement.
Good, but implement it this way:
1. Let civil service staff (I don’t like the ‘servant’ term) get their lumpsum at 55 as a first dividend.
2. Pay them the final retirement divident or whatever you may call it at 65.
My reasoning is that they can invest the first dividend and see it ‘grow’ while they are in service the next 10 years so that when they finally leave they go to their investment and beef it up with further 10 years earnings.
All Jobs like Directors, Principals, Chief account, Heads of departments possibly be on five year term. After that you go back as a senior civil servant/staff. This means that the higher qualification you have the more money you get. If with my PhD i get the money i want, what can make me not work as research at small institutions like Zambia college of agriculture or work as an extension office in rural area with farmers where my specialization is required. It sadden me to see the whole lot of a PhDs persons taking up administration offices and only Job they have is signing cheques and forging receipts; telling workers that there is no money
Highest paid Job should senior govt officers. Directors voted in for certain period. No one will employ relatives and result in less corruption.
LETS HOPE THIS WILL NOT AFFECT THE ARMY AND AIR FORCE AND THE POLICE. OUR NATURE OF WORK DEMANDS TO MUCH STAMINA. PLEASE EXCEMPT US
This is absurd. What makes Government think that this ridiculous proposal will be accepted? Government must learn to consult its workers through their representatives who are Unions before arriving at any decision that has a direct effect on the workers. Government must be sincere enough to admit that it is running away from paying retirement packages by increasing the retirement age and abolishing lump sum payments of pension packages. This will have a spiral over effect in that people will be retiring late thereby exacerbating the high levels of unemployment in the country. All progress Government workers and Unions must come together to demand that these proposals be abolished. Let 55 years be the mandatory retirement age while the proposed 65 years can be optional.
This is absurd. What makes Government think that this ridiculous proposal will be accepted? Government must learn to consult its workers through their representatives who are Unions before arriving at any decision that has a direct effect on the workers. Government must be sincere enough to admit that it is running away from paying retirement packages by increasing the retirement age and abolishing lump sum payments of pension packages. This will have a spiral over effect in that people will be retiring late thereby exacerbating the high levels of unemployment in the country. All progressive Government workers through their Unions must come together to demand that these proposals be abolished. Let 55 years be the mandatory retirement age while the proposed 65 years can be optional.
There’s nothing ridiculous about this proposal. Please read #12 and #26 above and get some free wisdom improvement
Dear Editor,
The government has no right to move forward the retirement age to 65 years old for civil servants. The life span has reduced very much to around 45 years and so who is going to benefit the pension.
The govt is trying to run away from its responsibility of looking after its workers. During the 2011 political campaigns, they accused MMD of failing to pay retires on time so what has changed now that they are in govt. Where are our trade unions?
Meaning you shouldn’t worry. Jobs will always be there
By the way when does this take effect?
Like the comrade who suggests that this retirement age should not affect those in uniform, he forgot those working for Zambia Wildlife Authority who need a lot of energy to apprehend suspects destroying our valuable natural resource. How can a 65 year old man run after a 25 year old youth and apprehend him? Surely, is our government serious about this?
Most arguments against this move are unresearched and very rushed. Bloggers want to express an opinion without facts and without knowledge of the subject at hand. The persistent argument that the old will block creation of jobs has been rebutted very well by Max Mbizo@12. Italian@26 gives a breakdown of a Zambian educated man’s path to his qualification. He spends his life being educated and govt gets little out of him because he is retired at 55. Govt loses. Higher Taller reminds us that the retirement age increase is for Civil Servants not everyone.
Those arguing that life expectancy is too low have been exposed for a lack of analyticals skills by the likes of eggchicken @11. What Iam seeing from the above is that the country needs a good education system so we can argue…
People argue like they will never reach retirement age. They are only thinking of the here and now. A situation should be analysed ob jectively
Does this govt think a 60 year old can work in this Army? We support the govt of the day but looking at the nature of a Soldier’s job I will not on this motion.
Good, so when is Chibesakunda retiring?