Long queues were obvious at Post Offices throughout the country from December 1 as for the first time in the country's history, people over 70 years of age began receiving pensions.

Commissioner of Pensions, Mr. Thabo Thulo said in an interview with the Lesotho News Agency (LENA) that pension payouts have been going smoothly except for a few glitches in Maseru where there was omission of some names from the register. These could be solved by people reporting such at the Pensions Office, he said.

The long queues were the result of the exercise being in its infancy, Mr. Thulo said, promising that in the next few months pensioners would be divided according to their areas and be paid out on different days.

About 64 171 people aged 70 years and above have been registered, with Maseru alone recording 15 000 people. They are allowed to use passports and election registration cards as identification although the pensions Office is preparing its own special identity cards, Mr. Thulo said.

This was what the scene looked like at the Mafeteng Post office on December 1. Before queuing for the pay-out, pensioners  first have to ensure their names appear on the register.

03 December 2004