By A Correspondent| Opposition legislator Mutsa Murombedzi of Mashonaland West yesterday took Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, July Moyo to task over the government’s neglect of pensioners’ welfare.
Murombedzi took the floor to address what he described as the ongoing plight of pensioners who, he claimed, were being “tossed from one Ministry to the other.”
She highlighted a question raised on February 13th regarding the inadequacy of pension payments, emphasizing the dire situation faced by pensioners who require daily medication but lack the financial means to acquire it.
“The pension for pensioners needs to be looked into but the Minister said they were going to look into it. It is now a month down the line and nothing has been done to correct the anomaly.
“We have pensioners who require medication on daily basis but they have not received any concrete response from the relevant ministries.
“They are living in poverty because the pensions that they are getting are meagre and insufficient,” said Murombedzi.
She criticized the lack of tangible responses from relevant ministries, arguing that pensioners were enduring poverty due to meagre and insufficient pensions.
“Ministers should tell us tangible things so that the money that they are getting as pensioners will be able to sustain them and buy drugs for them,” added Murombedzi.
Responding to Murombedzi’s impassioned plea, Minister July Moyo defended the government’s stance, asserting that a “tangible response requires a tangible question.”
He maintained that he had provided a concrete statement regarding government policy when queried on the matter, implying that further action was contingent upon specific inquiries.