A modest understanding of problems which centres of the Legal Resources Foundation continue to receive relate to the payment and general administration of pensions and is enough to realise, that something is seriously wrong with the system. Infact, there would appear to be no planning at all on the part of the board with regard to effecting payments to pensioners in accordance with their retirement dates or years. Another serious problem is that the Board does not have offices in the provincial centers. This compels pensioners to travel to Lusaka from all over Zambia for simple queries which could easily be addressed over the telephone. Even if they did get to Lusaka, their claims are not attended to immediately, making pensioners destitute as they are forced to sleep at the bus terminus and railway stations for several days or, in extreme cases, for as long as two to five years.
Corrupt practices are also quite common.
Legal counsel at the Pensions Board. Ms Chibesakunda says the Board is not insensitive to the plight of pensioners and that delayed payments are the result of inadequate and often delayed disbursement of funds to the board from the national treasury. However, it is no comfort to a pensioner to be told that he or she cannot be paid for a few years because government is running a strict cash budget. A more humane system of rewarding those who have faithfully toiled for the country must be adopted. Obviously the crisis that dogs the institution is apparent from the distressing sight of the pensioners.