PENSIONERS who lost their life savings during the 2007 to 2009 hyper-inflation era will receive compensation from February 2024, a senior Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) official has said.
Speaking during a talk show on a commercial radio on Wednesday, Ipec director (pension and life assurance) Cuthbert Mujoma said modalities had been put in place for insurance companies to compensate beneficiaries.
“The insurance companies have submitted their pension payment plans. We urge policyholders to go and check their names so that they know how much they are supposed to get.
“Some pension funds have now changed names and we urge the pensioners to check with us so that we help them,” he said.
“According to our timelines, the pensioners should start receiving what they are owed in February next year. The process has taken a long time because of the legal procedures the government embarked on.”
Mujoma urged relatives of deceased life assurance policyholders to come forward so that designated beneficiaries receive their dues.
Pensioners lost their savings 14 years ago following a bout of hyperinflation which led to the collapse of the local currency and adoption of the United States dollar as the base currency.
The switch to the greenback immediately wiped out the value of Zimbabwe dollar-denominated investments, leaving thousands of pensioners destitute.
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Government set up the Justice Smith Commission of Inquiry in 2015, whose report was adopted by Cabinet in 2018, in response to a public outcry.
In September 2018, government mandated Ipec to implement the recommendations of the Justice Smith inquiry.
Ipec has since drafted regulations to facilitate compensation processes.
The amount of prejudice would be determined after the implementation of the compensation regulation and this will differ according to pension fund or insurance company.
Insurance companies and pension funds were directed to submit compensation plans, showing compensation amounts and the eligible policyholders and pension fund members.
