By Tabora Bojang
The former managing director of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation Rene Geoffrey Renner was elected as the new pensioner’s representative at the Social Security Board of Directors at a fiery pensioner’s congress held at the Friendship hostel on Saturday.
Renner, an accountant and an independent auditor was the first MD of the SSHFC when it was newly set-up in 1982. He replaces Malick Foon whose 6-year tenure as the pensioner’s rep at the SSHFC governing board ended this year.
Renner was a Non-Executive Director at the Central Bank of The Gambia and a member of the audit committee of the bank. He is expected to effectively liaise and enhance dialogue between pensioners and the corporation as the retirees’ laments series of constraints they are faced with.
According to the pensioners, their current monthly wage is stagnant at D910, which is not measurable with the living cost prevailing in the country.
The new rep vows to work in ensuring that the constraints of the pensioners are addressed in the most suitable way by working with a set-up committee that will work with the Board to see if increment is financially feasible as well as the arrears they have not been paid for in the past six years.
“For six years now no increment has been given to the pensioners going into the seventh year the reason is that the financial basis of the scheme is undermined because of the way that funds were disbursed by the former regime.”
