The Ombudsman Commission registered a complaint in July 2023 in relation to an alleged delay in settling the outstanding pensioner’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments owed to a retired senior military officer by the responsible Trustee for the retired benefit fund. The adjustments included all variations for the years 2019 to 2023.
According to the retired military officer, his salaries have not been reflected in the CPI adjustments and variations since 2019. This occurred despite the existence of relevant regulations, policies, and acts to manage retirement benefit funds, as well as pensioners of high risk, old age, and widows.
On 12 February 2024, the Commission enquired with the concerned Trustee Services to resolve the issue and settle outstanding CPI adjustments to fortnightly rates of all pensioners including the retired military officer through a board resolution.
The Commission established through its enquiry that the retired military officer’s claim was genuine and that he was unnecessarily delayed from receiving the CPI adjustments in his salaries since 2019.
The CPI adjustments and variations for the years 2019 to 2023 were back paid to all pensioners, including the retired military officer on Pay 12/2023. The new rate of eight per cent (8%) was also adjusted in the same Pay Period Ending (PPE).
A recent payslip of a retired military officer as of January 2024 indicated a CPI rate of 8%.