The election of seven members of the Board of Directors to manage Tonga's first National Retirement Benefits Fund NRBF will be held on April 26, according to Ikapote Tavalea, an adviser on Retirement Benefits Fund to the Ministry of Finance.

Ikapote said that only the employers and the employees who have been registered with the National Retirement Benefits Fund NRBF will be eligible to be candidates, and to vote. He said  that there is no deadline on registration, but by March 30 151 employers and 3,300 employees have been registered, most of them were from private companies, NGO's and churches.

He said that the National Retirement Benefits Fund will be managed by a seven-members board. The employers and the employees will elect  three members each  and the  Minister of Finance will appoint one member on April 26. The Minister of Finance's appointee will have no voting right in the board.

Candidates

As of today, April 10 the four candidates who have been registered to compete for the three employers' seats in the Board of Directors are:  Saia Moehau, Nuku'alofa Investment Ltd; Simione Sefanaia,  the Tonga Development Bank; Peseti Ma'afu, Liku'alofa Resort and William Edwards Jr, Tonga Power Ltd.

The seven candidates who have been registered to contest for the employees' three seats are: Kenitoni Mafi, Tonga Airports Ltd; Rev Dr Tevita Havea, the Secretary of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga; Mosese Manuofetoa, Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga; 'Aisake Tu'iono, the Friendly Islands Satellite Communication Company; Lata Tanginoa, the National Reserve Bank of Tonga; Vaihoi Masila, the Tonga Communication Corporation, and Sitiveni 'Esau, the Tonga Power Ltd.

The deadline for the registration of candidates for the election was 5 April.

Ikapote said that once the board of directors are elected they will start working immediately, because the contribution to the fund will be, 5% of the salary of an employee will be paid by the employer and 5% by the employee will start flowing into the fund  by July 1, the start of the new financial year 2012-2013.

The National Retirement Benefits Scheme Bill 2010 was enacted on 1 October 2011, and provided mandatory superannuation plan for the private sector. It requires that employees contribute 5% of their salaries to be matched by their employers, on a monthly basis.

Under the Act retirement pension age is 60 or 70 years old but benefits can be paid in circumstances if a member suffers permanent disablement or death before he or she reach the pension age.