ANALYSIS REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE FOR SOCIAL, THE YOUTH, SPORTS AND CULTURE ISSUES OF THE BILL AMENDING SOME PROVISIONS OF LAW N° 1/12 OF 12 MAY 2020 ON THE SOCIAL PROTECTION CODE IN BURUNDI

I.INTRODUCTION

On February 24, 2022, senators who are members of the Standing Committee in charge of social issues, youth, sports and culture met to analyze the bill whose purpose is listed above.

The session was marked by the presence of the Minister of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, who had represented the Government to present the bill to the members of the said commission and enlighten them on the aspects the most important.

During the analysis of the that bill, the following documents were used:

• The Constitution of the Republic of Burundi;

• Law No. 1/12 of May 12, 2020 on the Code of Social Protection in Burundi;

• The bill in its government version and its statement of facts;

• The bill as adopted by the National Assembly.

This report includes the following points:

1. The introduction;

2. The interest of the bill;

3. The content of the bill;

4. The questions posed to the representative of the Government as well as the answers given;

5. The conclusion.

1. INTEREST OF THE BILL

In his speech of June 18, 2020, during his investiture, his Excellency President of the Republic expressed the political will to improve the living conditions of retirees in terms of social security, the ultimate objective of which is to grant retirement pension equivalent to the last monthly salary of the pensioner.

Also, article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi provides that “The State, as far as possible, ensures all citizens that they will have means at their disposal to lead a life in accordance with human dignity”.

One of the aspects of the social protection system is the pension scheme providing old-age and invalidity benefits and survivors’ benefits from which affiliates or their dependents fulfilling the conditions required by law may benefit.

However, over the years, it turned out that the amount of pensions paid to beneficiaries could no longer guarantee them a decent life in view of the cost of life.

Aware of its constitutional obligations to guarantee, to the extent of its possibilities, the means to ensure a dignified existence for those who have devoted part of their working life to it, the Government has shown a political will to raise, as a first step , the amount of the old-age pension for civil servants, political or public officials, agents of the judiciary and executives or agents of the public sector as well as members of the defense and security forces, and to apply the same process for the parastatal and private sector, in a second phase.

1. CONTENT OF THE BILL

This bill includes 14 articles listed below:

• The first article indicates the articles of the Social Protection Code subject to modification with a view to the revaluation of pensions for the various categories mentioned above in the public sector;

• The second article relates to the scope;

• The third article indicates the conditions that may lead to the request for early retirement while emphasizing that the retirement for personal convenience remains subject to the discretion of the employer;

 • The fourth article talks about the invalidity pension and it   emphasizes that the latter is not cumulative with the salary;

• The fifth article specifies the way in which the amount of the        old-age pension, invalidity pension or early pension and old-       age allowance is determined;

• The sixth article indicates the formula used to calculate the monthly amount of the old-age, invalidity or anticipated         pension: equal to the last net salary of the month preceding       that of retirement due to age limit;

• The seventh article gives the definition of the net monthly     salary within the meaning of the law under analysis;

• The eighth article deals with the pensions received before the        entry into force of this law;

• The ninth article, for its part, refers to a joint ordinance of the         ministers having respectively finance and social protection in      their attributions, setting an upper limit for the old-age or        invalidity pension to be allocated to executives receiving a net       monthly salary exceeding one amount fixed by that order. The         same order will govern the upper limit for old-age, disability or early retirement pensions for political officials  and     public officials;

• The tenth article relates to the survivors’ pension or allowance      for the benefit of beneficiaries in the event of the member’s death;

• The eleventh article talks about the due date for the liquidation    and payment of the old-age or survivors’ pension;

•      The twelfth article deals with a decree regulating the     procedures for supplying and managing a working capital    and a security reserve fund with a view to ensuring the        financial balance of the debtor organization of the services   and the   sustainability of the reform;

• The thirteenth article specifies that the provisions contrary to   this law are repealed;

•      The fourteenth article specifies that this law comes into force       on the day of its promulgation, with retroactive effect in   favour of those who have been retired from January 1, 2020.

1. QUESTIONS POSED TO THE GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE AND ANSWERS GIVEN

Question 1

As the title of the bill indicates and according to the statement of facts in paragraph 5 of the bill, “the Government has shown the political will to increase, initially, the amount of the old-age pension for civil servants, magistrates, political or public officials, executives or agents of the public sector as well as members of the defense and security corps, and to apply the same process for the parastatal and private sector, in a second time “.

Madam Minister, when will these reforms begin for the Para public and private sector to avoid discrimination against policyholders?

Response

For the implementation of this political will, an execution plan is needed, including a timetable. It should also be borne in mind that such a reform, which will improve the living conditions of retirees, cannot be implemented without a prior study of its feasibility and sustainability.

 For the public sector, the implementation is relatively easy because the feasibility studies concern a single employer, the State.

On the other hand, for the parastatal and private sectors, the implementation of this political will requires very complex feasibility studies because they concern a large number of employers (more than 10,000 employers).

For the implementation of this political will, the Government wanted to set a good example for the public sector and encourage other sectors to follow. The Technical Commission which is set up is in the process of carrying out feasibility studies.

On the other hand, the implementation of this reform should be deferred or shifted for a time strictly necessary to put in place an economic-legal framework which can guarantee the sustainability of the services, which implies other studies and mechanisms, why not, Subsidy, to treat pensioners on an equal footing.

It should be noted that this law takes retroactive effect in favour of those who were retired from January 1, 2020.

Question 2

Article 1 of this bill speaks of the categories of civil servants concerned by the said bill, referring to political or public representatives.

Madam Minister,  

1. Would you like to tell us about the political and public representatives who will be affected by the bill under analysis?

Answer.

These are the political and public officials whose salaries come from the general budget of the State. In other words, it is those who work in the public sector. This law, in its article 9, paragraph 2, also specifies that a joint ordinance of the Ministers having respectively finances and social protection in their attributions will fix a top limit of the pension of old age or invalidity to be allocated to the political representatives and public officials.

• Will the representative who will be called upon to perform duties in an institution whose budget does not come from that of the State be eligible for this revaluation of the pension?

Answer.

Yes, this agent whose salary does not come from the general state budget will find himself in the reforms concerning the Para public and private sectors.

Question 3

In article 5 of this bill, it is a question of modifying the method of calculation of pensions by replacing the old formula by the last net salary.

Madam Minister,

1. Why does this formula of the average reappear? Isn’t that against the spirit of the law?

Answer.

The average formula is not contrary to the spirit of the law in that public sector retirees before 2020 continue to receive the pension according to the average/percentage formula in force, whereas the pension equal to the last net salary received is applicable to those who retired from January1, 2020.

• Why include it in this provision?

Answer.

Since the old article is modified, all retirees in their specificities must be found in the new law. Hence this law must integrate those who will continue to receive the pension according to the formula of averages/percentages and according to the formula equal to the last net salary received.

Question 4

Article 6 in its paragraphs 3 and 5 shows a certain parallelism as to the method of calculating the old-age allowance.

Madam Minister, could you give us some clarification on the purpose of these two paragraphs?

Answer.

This parallelism is lifted since paragraphs 4 and 5 have been moved to article 8 which talks about the method of calculation and the increase of the pension for retirees before 2020.

Question 5

Article 8 indicates that the pensions received before the entry into force of this law are increased by a percentage determined by a joint order of the Ministers having respectively social protection and finance in their attributions on the condition that the amount of pension should not be inferior to BIF 30,000.

Madam Minister, as the Council of Ministers of 9/08/2021 has already decided on the percentage to be granted (30%), why not specify it in this law and make this increase subject to a joint ordinance?

Answer.

A law is designed to last over time. If the economic conditions of the country were to improve, it would be more flexible to modify this percentage by regulatory means than by legislative means.

CONCLUSION

Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi provides that “the State ensures, as far as possible, that all citizens have the means to lead an existence in keeping with human dignity”.

In addition, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Burundi, in his inaugural speech of June 18, 2020, expressed a political will to improve the living conditions of retirees in terms of social security, the ultimate objective of which is to grant a retirement pension equivalent to the last monthly salary of the pensioner.

Ultimately, this reform removes some of the challenges faced by retirees, thus guaranteeing them a decent life in view of the cost of living.

For all these reasons, the Standing Committee in charge of social, youth, sports and culture issues, which initially endorses the amendments formulated by the National Assembly, asks the plenary assembly of the Senate to adopt unanimously this bill as it was presented.