The Ministry of Finance expects to roll out the Pension Fund, pursuant to the Pensions Act, in the upcoming government financial year and a fund manager will be unveiled soon.

Finance Ministry spokesperson Nations Msowoya said in an interview that the process of identification of the fund manager is almost complete.

He said the name of the identified firm will soon be presented to the Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) for endorsement.

“We hope the company will be endorsed by the ODPP because our plan is to rollout the scheme in the coming financial year,” said Msowoya.

According to Msowoya, the scheme will be implemented in phases and will start with a section of the civil service due to financial constraints.

An actuarial consultant who evaluated the plan calculated that rolling out of the scheme will require at least K379.8 billion — which is more than 50 percent of the total 2013/14 budget.

The consultant also established that government will be required to pay about K50 billion in annual contributions to the pension scheme if implemented in full.

Msowoya, however, admitted that the only feasible way is to phase the implementation from the coming financial year, with a selected group of the civil servants such as new recruits while the rest will join the scheme gradually.