Monrovia – A group under the banner “National Pension Association of Liberia (NPAL)” Thursday, January 31, staged a peaceful protest before The Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding the CDC-led government for their pension benefits.
Report by Augustine T. Tweh,
The group had been protesting before the Foreign Ministry, which hosts the offices of the President, for the past three days, calling on
During the protest, members of the NPAL were singing and chanting “Pay our pension benefits! They also held placards with the inscription: “NASSCORP we want our benefits! No to NASSCORP!
According to them, the government had been paying their pension benefits cheque through the Ministry of Finance but later diverted their payment to NASSCORP, making it difficult to receive their pension benefits.
“We here only to get our pay. We are pensioners, we always take pay. We don’t want anything, we just want our pay. We know NASSCORP not to be institution that is responsible for pension benefits. We don’t have trust in them and we don’t want them,” one of the protesters told FrontPage Africa.
The group said NASSCORP over the years has failed to remit their premiums deducted from them during active service. They said putting them under the authority of NASSCORP for pension benefits is unjust.
“The issue of our pay being taken over by NASSCORP will not help us as old people because after we shall have passed, it is over; our children will no longer benefit.”
Over the years, as far back as Tubman’s regime, the authority of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning then Ministry of Finance has been the custodian of our salary and disbursement,” The group in a one-page document noted.
“NASSCORP involvement in pension benefits payment is confusing me because NASSCORP is only responsible for death benefit, not pension benefits,” Edwin Garfeyea told FrontPage Africa.
Philip W. Karr, a retired Colonel of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) said NASSSCORP is not charged with the responsibility to pay pension benefit but rather death benefits.
“We in the para-military, they hold our cheques that we must go to NASSCORP and we don’t know NASSCORP. People who go to NASSCORP are working class, but we are not working, we are out, we are pensioned,” Colonel Karr averred.
Mother Esther B. Vampelt, 77, lamented that she was retired by the government of Liberia after 30 years of professional service at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs.
“I am here for my pension pay. My January pension pay. I’m hungry and the government is refusing to give my pension pay, sending me to NASSCORP. I’ve been taking my pay with Finance (Ministry of Finance &Development Planning). I want the government to pay our pension money through Finance. I want to deal with Finance because I’ve been dealing with them,” she added.
Mother Vampelt said she has nobody to take care her daily expenses since her two kids passed away, lamenting that survival squarely rest on her pension benefits.
“I worked at the Ministry of State until the government of Liberia was satisfied with me and sent me to Israel to represent Liberia for the Fest of Tabernacle. Now, I returned, I can’t get my pension pay but when I dropped (die) in your hand, then you buy big (expensive) casket,” Mother Vampelt added.
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