Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (Labour, Employment, Youth and People with Disability) Deogratius Ndejembi has assured judges of the High Court-Labour Division and other stakeholders that the government takes seriously their opinions regarding improving some provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Fund.

Ndejembi made the remarks at the weekend here when wrapping up working session between Workers Compensation Fund (WCF), judges of the High Court of Tanzania - Labour Division from central and western zones, Labour Commissioner and Commission for Mediation and Arbitration (CMA).

"I would like to inform you that the opinions you gave to improve section 39 (2) of the Workers' Compensation Act. (Chapter 263) which set a time limit for claim submission without providing scope for receiving those claims if there are fundamental reasons for its delay, we are already working on it for those improvements to be part of the social security laws amendment bill that was read in Parliament for the first time on February 15, 2024,” he said.

He said WCF in collaboration with the directorate of social security in the Prime Minister's Office (Labour, Employment, Youth and the People with Disability) continue with the analysis of the improvements in the Workers' Compensation Act which were issued by judges in previous working sessions.

Opening the session on Friday, Chief Justice Prof Ibrahim Hamisi Juma, said the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania states that the goal of all government agencies is to improve wellbeing of the people and WCF as a government agency affects wellbeing of the people.

"WCF is a fund that affects the wellbeing of the people because you may be depending on your mother or brother and unfortunately they have an accident and die; here the welfare of the family can disappear if there is no fund that can carry that responsibility. So, this fund is very important," he said.

The CJ encouraged attention to detail and integrity in the implementation of the Workers Compensation Act.

"Lack of focus and fraud has contributed to killing the social security funds that had very good goals. If we are not careful, WCF can also face this problem. If we understand well the logic of establishing this fund, we will make it sustainable and resilient," he said.

The CJ commended WCF for making great strides in the use of IT in the implementation of its duties and reminded the importance of the systems of public institutions to facilitate provision of services.

"When an employee submits a claim to the WCF, the entire system must understand that a certain employee has had an accident at work or has died. If the government systems can identify each other, it will also help to close the loopholes of fraud," he said.

Emmanuel Humba, WCF chairman of the Board of Trustees, said the board and management will continue to cooperate with the judiciary, pointing out that in addition to the fact that the responsibility of paying compensation has been assigned to the fund, Workers' Compensation Act has established procedures and instruments to handle claims of beneficiaries when they are not satisfied with the compensation paid or the fund's decisions that conflict with their expectations.

"Due to this important legal requirement, the Board of Trustees of WCF and Management and officials of the High Court Labour Division felt there was a need to hold working sessions with the aim of sharing experiences, building common understanding and identifying areas of law that require improvements with the aim of increasing efficiency in implementing the law." He said.

WCF Director General Dr John Mduma said that cooperation between the fund and the judiciary is important as there are many areas where the fund meets with court officials in the implementation of its duties.

"As WCF, our activities could not take place without the presence of the court's activities. For example, in dealing with issues related to inheritance, the fund depends on the decisions of the court," he said.