Erratic funding affecting diplomats

Workers in Malawi foreign missions have now gone two months without pay, a development that is rendering some of them destitute.

Several diplomats, who asked for anonymity, confirmed the development saying that they know what is happening in the country’s 24 missions because they are all in the same WhatsApp group.

Government admitted in an interview this week that it is facing funding challenges but emphasized that Treasury has committed to provide funding for the first quarter from April to June this year to address the problem.

In a brief response yesterday government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu, who is also Minister of Information and Digitisation, said that Treasury was working on the matter, adding that the proposed funding to missions was not all being remitted. He did not explain why.

The diplomats confided in Weekend Nation in separate interviews that remittances of their salaries known as Foreign Service Allowances (FSA), including rentals and other recurrent transactions (ORT), had been irregular for almost a year.

They said government, for example, is yet to pay their June salary. They are paid on the 20th of every month and as we went to press yesterday they said they had also not been paid their July remunerations.

According to one diplomat, as of Thursday this week, some had gone for three months without pay.

The diplomat, who is based in Europe, said the situation is worst in Berlin (Germany), Brussels (Belgium), Washington DC and New York (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Geneva (Switzerland) where some diplomats have started receiving eviction notices from their landlords due to cumulative rental arrears.

He said the erratic payments are also affecting their medical insurance which is mandatory in Europe hence they are unable to seek medical treatment.

The diplomat said their mission was last paid in May and regretted their plight, saying “things are now getting out of hand”.

He said: “We’ve been so stressed. It is about basic amenities being affected. We are not able to plan and the fear of destitution far from home. We have bills to square. All these things are adding up. It’s so embarrassing for us among peers.”

The source said some diplomats bought vehicles on loan and have not been able to service the loans because of the erratic remittances of their FSAs.

Another diplomat who was posted to a foreign mission in October 2021 voiced similar concerns.

“Life is hard and unpredictable. Basically, one is in the dark. There is barely any communication from the ministry as regards our pay or rentals. Even if one writes them, they don’t respond.

“I have a friend, whose two kids have been chased from school. It’s embarrassing and inconveniencing. We hope the situation will be resolved soon otherwise it is getting worse and the communication blackout makes it nastier.”

One diplomat said some employees survive through borrowing money from colleagues and friends while others use their savings. He said in some cases, the employees survive on money sent to the missions as rentals and then they negotiate with landlords about the delayed rental payments.

Among other benefits, government pays rentals and school fees for diplomats’ children aged six to 18 years. The diplomats also buy vehicles duty-free. The official diplomatic envoy also gets entertainment allowance.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe avoided directly commenting on our inquiry but confessed that the missions are experiencing funding challenges.

He could also not deny the suffering and humiliation of the diplomats and that they have not yet been paid their June FSAs while others have gone unpaid for three months.

In a brief response to Weekend Nation’s inquiry Kabaghe said: “There have been some funding challenges in the other categories. The ministry is holding consultations with the Secretary to the Treasury to address the challenges.”

The FSAs vary according to the diplomats’ grade and location-specific scales that alter base pay rates for them.

A source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The FSAs are not fixed. They are paid depending on the location and budgets. But in Africa, they are much lower as the cost of living is bearable.”

Malawi has about 24 functioning diplomatic missions across the world, including the newly-opened Consulate in China, where as a temporary measure, some diplomatic staff-based in Beijing have been seconded there.

According to our sources, there are between eight and 12 people in each mission including non-essential workers.

So, for example, a diplomat at Grade I in Germany receives a monthly FSA of $3 500 while someone on the same grade but resident in Mozambique gets $2 500.

For house rentals, a diplomat in Zambia at Grade G is paid $2 000 per month while the same diplomat in New York gets $3 500. Accommodation in New York is expensive and most diplomats reportedly are forced to use part of their FSA to top up rentals.

Initially, diplomats would find own accommodation and government was paying directly for it regardless of the cost and grade but the arrangement was abandoned as it was deemed to be expensive.

Commenting on the development, governance expert Boniface Chibwana said it is time government considered reducing the number of missions and staffing levels.

“May be we need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. If government is broke, let’s just have strategic embassies to deploy people we will be able to take care of instead of being embarrassed,” observed Chibwana who is executive director of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP).

His proposition also comes amid public criticisms that government is spending more on some foreign missions that have no meaningful benefits.

“First, we need to appreciate why we deploy diplomats and their roles. It is sad and unfortunate that they have gone two or three months without pay. Where do we expect them to get their upkeep?

“It is embarrassing to render these people destitute. They represent our country and do government job. It’s different if they were here because they can find alternatives for their survival.

“So may be before we question their efficiency and effectiveness, let’s give them the tools to work and blame them later.”