Ministry of Higher Education has confirmed settlement of outstanding service gratuity pay for public universities’ staff after protracted discussions coupled with petitions and strikes.
But, while confirming the payment, both the ministry and concerned entities have kept a tight lid on the amount disbursed.
The institutions involved are Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar), Mzuzu University (Mzuni) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must).
The service gratuity issue dates back to 2024 when government abolished provision of the same to employees from the country’s six public universities on grounds that it was not sustainable.
In an interview yesterday, Minister of Higher Education Jessie Kabwila said the disbursements started on June 6 2025.
“We honoured our pledge of paying the service gratuity to eligible staff members from all the three higher education institutions on June 6 2025 as promised,” she said.
Kabwila said the ministry engaged with other institutions that helped government to pay what it owed to the staff members.
In a separate interview, Mzuni Academic Staff Union spokesperson Misheck Banda confirmed receipt of their service gratuity dues by its members.
On his part, Must Staff Union president Mlonyeni Chisi said they collectively received about K10 billion.
“I can confirm that staff members of Must received their service gratuity amounting to around K10 billion,” he said.
For staff members of Luanar, their representative Harold Chisale stated that their bank accounts were credited on June 10 2025.
Following the abolition of the service gratuity scheme in 2024, government was required to pay the dues to eligible staff who worked for the institutions before that year.
