Govt, partners validate labour export guidelines

Ministry of Labour and its partners have validated the draft Labour Migration Regulations that seek to ensure fair and ethical recruitment of Malawian workers in foreign countries.

The ministry’s Principal Secretary Chikondano Mussa confirmed the development on Wednesday when she presided over the closing of the Employment (Labour Migration) Regulations validation workshop held in camera in Salima.

“The Labour Migration Regulations we have just validated will promote fair and ethical recruitment of Malawian migrants,” she said.

Mussa said the regulations, approved by delegates who included representatives of employers and employees, will cover both government to government and private agency recruitment.

She said: “We may be aware that some destination countries such as Israel prefer government to government recruitment while other destination countries favour private agency recruitment.

“The regulations are therefore relevant to both scenarios. They have the force of law and provide direction to private employment agencies and government as a recruiter.”

The regulations are being framed amid a mess in recruitment of Malawians for jobs in Israel which has left around 4 000 youths in suspense despite processing their travel to the Middle East nation.

The chaos centres on disagreements as to who is supposed to be the axis of recruitments with both government and private agents seeking monopoly.

The proposed regulations, according to the Private Recruitment Agencies chairperson Trevor Kandoje include that an agent should have a minimum of K5 million balancein their account and a licence.

The balance is proof that the agent is financially stable.

Kandoje said they do not have problems with the proposed provisions as they believe that it will bring sanity to the sector.

He, however, called on the government to shed more light on the provision that makes it a recruiter when the jobs being offered abroad mostly are in the private sector.

Legal scholar Ngeyi Kanyongolo, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic University of Malawi, is the consultant for the draft regulations which will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice and later tabled in Parliament.