Mohalenyane Phakela
THE Public Officers’ Defined Contribution Pension Fund recently raised M201 000 which will be distributed among various charities as part of the government’s commitment to assisting vulnerable people in the country.
The money was raised at the Pension Fund’s 10th anniversary commemorations that were held at Maseru Club grounds on Friday night.
Cabinet ministers, Moeketsi Majoro (Finance), Lesego Makgothi (Foreign Affairs) and former finance minister, Timothy Thahane were some of the high profile dignitaries at the event along with representatives of different companies who pledged various amounts to the Pension Fund.
It was glitz and glamour as the guests were resplendent in the black tie theme of the event. Jazz outfit, JC Crew, serenaded the guests with their soothing melodic tunes and compelled the nimble-footed to take to the dance floor to showcase their skills.
There were also mouth-watering eats which could have contributed to making the guests to be more generous to the extent that they surpassed the M200 000 target by M1 000.
Dr Majoro commended the Pension Fund for working to ensure that civil servants had a decent standard of life upon their retirement.
“I commend the Pension Fund for diligently preserving the futures of our civil service and finding it appropriate to celebrate 10 years of doing so,” Dr Majoro said.
“To the civil servants, congratulations and thank you for your commitment to serve the nation which has a major impact in shaping this country. Your work is literally a matter of life and death for all that depend on you. It is for this reason that the grants and pledges that have been made tonight illustrate and demonstrate how big of a role we can all play in improving the lives of our countrymen and women.
“I challenge the fund to look at its role as bigger than just the public officers, but instead to rather look at it as a socio-economic driver that can grow this country to greater heights as an institutional investor. With the government being the biggest employer, you are single-handedly responsible for the future and livelihoods of a substantial population of this country,” he said.
The Pension Fund was established in 2008. In a recent interview with our sister Lesotho Times publication, Pension Fund Principal Officer, Thabo Thulo, said while their primary mandate was to make good returns for members, they also “want to contribute to economic growth in Lesotho by creating jobs and ensuring that money circulates in Lesotho”.
“We want to see a good part of the members’ money invested locally and making good returns while at the same time helping to grow the national economy.
“Currently we have assets under management of about M5.7 billion. It is a lot of money and only about 5 percent of that money is invested locally. The bulk of the money is still out there and we need it back so that we can invest it into projects which will boost our economy and create jobs for Basotho,” Mr Thulo said.
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