BOFUS is a funeral scheme that caters for the funeral benefits of BOSETU members and their dependants. When contacted by Mmegi to give the prevalence of such cases, if any, whereby some BOSETU members tried to obtain false insurance benefits from BOFUS, the secretary-general (SG) of BOSETU, Tobokani Rari, confirmed that the union recorded such cases in 2018 and 2019. Although Rari could not readily provide the accurate statistics of cases of a similar nature because he was not in his office when Mmegi contacted him, he said that around 10 cases were recorded between 2018 and 2019.
Rari said the numbers were high and concerning taking into cognisant the noble intention of BOFUS. Asked what interventions, if any, BOSETU has put in place to prevent cases of a similar nature to happen in future, Rari said: “We have not recorded cases of a similar nature since 2018 and 2019. We have contracted a private company to do due diligence (check the authenticity of all documents that are submitted by our members when they want to claim benefits from BOFUS). The company also liaises with the Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs to ascertain the births and deaths of people who are submitted by our members to claim money. This has really helped us a lot,” he said.
