Court gives ex-Admarc staff, Old Mutual 21 days

 Court (IRC) in Mzuzu has given former workers of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) and Old Mutual Malawi plc 21 days to resolve their dispute over unpaid pension funds.

During hearing of the case yesterday, IRC deputy chairperson Anthony Kapaswiche observed that there is enough time for the ex-workers and the defendant to discuss the matter and reach a new agreement towards payment of the funds.

He also agreed with the applicants’ demands for Old Mutual to provide information on what they are to receive and the amounts involved.

Said Kapaswiche: “The concern here is that without that information coming first, the applicants could receive wrong amounts of their pensions. The court should be notified of your agreement if any and it will also file notice of adjournment if no new agreement is reached.”

The retrenched workers had earlier sought an order to commit to prison Old Mutual Malawi plc group chief executive officer Edith Jiya and board chairperson Innocensia Ottober for alleged contempt of court. However, the two parties have also agreed to discontinue the proceedings.

The applicants had sought legal action following the expiry of a 14 day window that was earlier set by the court on November 28 for Old Mutual to pay the ex- Admarc employees their pension.

Lawyer representing Old Mutual, Davis Njobvu, said there was an anomaly in the application because there is a specific company that deals with pension funds at Old Mutual.

“The contempt of court proceedings were being brought before the group chief executive officer and board chairperson. These people are not the ones who deal with issues of pension,” he said.

Njobvu further argued that the orders were not brought to the attention of the two executives.

On his part, Leonard Mbulo, lawyer for the ex-Admarc employees, acknowledged that a consensus was reached to strike a new agreement on how the matter will be resolved in the given 21 days.

He said: “We will work together with Admarc and Old Mutual within the given 21 days. Admarc is supposed to furnish Old Mutual with the necessary forms that were filled by the ex-workers so that processing of the pension funds could begin.”

Spokesperson of the ex-workers Samuel Katambi said yesterday they respected the court’s decision, but prayed that justice should prevail in the matter.

On 31 January 2023, government retrenched all Admarc staff and later embarked on a recruitment drive.