The government has proposed to go for negotiations with the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) retired soldiers with the aim of settling out of court.
On Monday, the Attorney General, the Ministry of Defence and Security and retired soldiers were supposed to face off in a case in which the latter is suing the government for transferring their pension to the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) without their consent. The parties have agreed to negotiate after the State indicated that it is ready to implement the Presidential Directive of 2024.
In a brief interview with one of the ex-soldiers and representative of ‘A re Itshekeng’, Brigadier Mabe Gaborone, he said they agreed to go for negotiations since the government proposed the arrangement. “They have proposed a negotiation and out of court settlement. If we reach an agreement then we will go back to court on July 19 for a consent court order,” he said.
However, Gaborone said they are firm in their demands and that only when they have been met, will they agree for out of court settlement. On the other hand, the State released a statement to update the nation and affected parties on the progress in the implementation of the Presidential Directive CAB 7/2024, which authorised adjustment of pension denominator for the BDF. The release from Ramokoka stated that they have secured P1.5 billion for BPOPF to facilitate payment of recalculated pension benefits to those affected.
“The Ministry of Defence and Security and its partners in this project being the Ministry of Finance and BPOPF have set forth to implement the Directive. The initial assessment from our records indicated that there will be around 9, 000 former and active members of the BDF likely to be affected by the exercise,” revealed Ramokoka. Further, she explained that the Ministry of Defence and Security has sent out teams in two phases to physically collect the required data from affected retirees and legal representatives of the deceased to verify the above numbers.
She said the first collection of the required data covered major settlements in the north and east of the country which started on May 20, 2024 and ended on May 30, 2024. “The second phase started on June 10, 2024 to June 20, 2024 and covered south and west. Close to six thousand applications were collected during this exercise. At the end of the data collection exercise on June 20, 2024, the Accountant General and Ministry of Defence and Security Team started with assessment and verification of information to ensure personnel information is correct and complete, and that only those affected by the exercise are prepared for recalculation,” she explained.
Ramokoka also said the assessment and verification exercise was nearing completion, with the Accountant General having completed 95% of the files. She explained that the verification has revealed that some ineligible individuals like those who joined and left the BDF after 2001 registered and that it also revealed that some potential beneficiaries are not in the Government Accounting and Payment System and will have to be recreated to effect payments.
“These are examples of unforeseen glitches which often come up to slow, but not stop the process. The assessment by the Accountant General involves calculation of gratuity enhancement, gratuity and new pension based on the new denominator. Those who retired under the defined benefit pension will have their gratuity enhancement and pension salaries adjusted and paid by the Accountant General,” Ramokoka. She revealed that the process at the BPOPF encompasses increasing initial transfer values by the recalculated amount; applying relevant interest rates to the new transfer values; and, calculating the new fund credit and dispensing it on the basis of whether the individual is active, deferred, deceased or a pensioner.
Further that the calculations of pension benefits will be employing the same mathematical formulae that were established and used in 2001 when transfer values were calculated by the DPSM and its Actuaries, except that the time the denominator will be different.
“For the deceased, disposal of death questionnaires will be administered from mid-July 2024. Following completion of administration of disposal of death benefit questionnaires, payment expected from the Accountant General will be forwarded to the Master of the High Court whilst those that will be paid through the BPOPF will be paid directly to nominated beneficiaries because the BPOPF have a benefits committee,” she stated. Ramokoka reminded those who may not have registered to visit the Ministry of Defence and Security with the required documents to register for payment of their enhancement withdrawals.
“Members of the public and affected parties are cautioned against agents who might be trying through misinformation to cause unnecessary distress to beneficiaries of this exercise. Instead, you are advised to contact the Ministry of Defence and Security Veterans Office directly and there is no need for an intermediary. It is estimated that the first batch of payments will be made within the first half of July 2024,” concluded the statement.
Meanwhile, the main case was ruled as a class action, considering that there were over 2, 000 respondents (retired and serving soldiers) and therefore it would be impractical to call each and every respondent to give oral evidence. The State was opposing the ruling emphasising that every respondent should give oral evidence and prove their claim. The background of the case is that former soldiers brought an action against the AG, the BDF and the Defence Ministry were seeking various declaratory orders. Close to 200 retired soldiers and other serving officers filed a suit in 2019 through their attorney, Kgalalelo Monthe.
The retired soldiers are reportedly representing close to 2, 000 litigants and according to the suit, the soldiers stated that it was illegal and unlawful contrary to the provisions of the BDF Act and its regulations for their pensions to have been transferred to the BPOPF without their consent. Through their papers, they had argued that the amendment in 2002 of the BDF Act and its regulations to the effect that any person who joined the BDF on or after April 1, 2001, shall be deemed to be a member of the BPOPF does not apply to them, they point out.
The suit further stated that the pension arrangement for the BDF was governed by the defence force (regular force, officers), regulations and defence force (regular force and other ranks) regulations prescribed pursuant to the BDF Act until the 2002 amendment and the same does not apply to the retired soldiers.
They said the purported transition of members of the BDF, both the officers and other ranks including the retired soldiers to the BPOPF operated pension scheme, had no legal basis and is therefore, a nullity. “The transition to the BPOPF was illegal and is incapable of being cured and that the 2002 amendment is not applicable to them (plaintiffs) as it took effect from April 1, 2001. The manner in which the transition was handled was discriminatory and denied the plaintiff the protection of the right of equality before the law,” read the lawsuit.