Kuhes staff demand K50bn gratuity

Unanticipated challenges of Unima unbundling have emerged at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes) where at least 5 000 employees are demanding a K50 billion gratuity with interest.

The employees argue that management’s failure to pay them gratuity within prescribed time is a violation of their contract.

The university—a merger of College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing—removed gratuity from its conditions of service on April 1 2023 following its delinking from the University of Malawi (Unima) .

But our findings have established that the situation is different from those in two other delinked public universities, the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) and University of Malawi (Unima), where they still maintain gratuity for those who join the universities before the delinking.

Kuhes union has since set in motion a series of actions to compel its management to either settle the gratuity with accrued interests or reinstate it.

In one of the internal memos Nation on Sunday has seen, the union is arguing that failure to disburse the service gratuity raises concerns because, according to established regulations, terminal benefits are supposed to be paid within six weeks following cessation of service.

Reads part of the memo: “This protracted non-payment not only infringes upon our contractual rights, but also exacerbates the financial burden endured by affected employees.”

When Kuhes removed gratuity last year, it was unclear on who would settle it, according to placement letters.

In one of the letters we have seen, Kuhes management told the staff they would have to wait for the government to provide direction on the way forward

“Kindly note that Kuhes’ conditions of service no longer include a service gratuity. However, employees who were on gratuity in the former College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing shall be advised on the way forward once the university receives guidance from Malawi Government,” reads part of the placement letters.

Kuhes registrar Christopher Namagowa on Wednesday said he was in a meeting and asked for a questionnaire.

But when we followed up on Friday, he indicated that he has been having endless meetings; hence, promised to respond later that night.

But in an interview on Wednesday, Kuhes Staff Union president Chawanangwa Ng’ambi said they have put up a task force comprising faculty members and support staff to draw strategies and approaches that should be put in place should management fail to honour their demands.

“We prioritise dialogue, but should our employer fail to swiftly settle our demands amicably, we will resort to unspecified action. We feel our patience is being taken for granted,” he said.

As part of their pursuit to have the service gratuity paid or reinstated, university union was, from Monday to Friday last week, identifying individuals in various schools and departments to help in the development of the proposed strategies and approaches.

This week, the union is expected to convene a general staff meeting where the proposed strategies and approaches will be applied. Thereafter, from April 29 onwards, the union and staff are expected to start implementing them.

Through such an approach, Ng’ambi said the union anticipates either the prompt disbursement of the owed gratuity along with accrued interests, in accordance with legal obligations and contractual agreements, or the reinstatement of the entitlement in a manner that aligns with regulatory requirements and safeguards their rights as employees.

He argued that the union’s expectations are rooted in the principles of fairness, accountability and adherence to established norms of employment governance and that they trust Kuhes management to demonstrate a genuine commitment to resolving this matter in a manner that is equitable and just for all parties involved.

Mubas Welfare Committee chairperson Maxford Chinombo on Wednesday said he would revert to us on Friday to provide a concrete response.

But a source familiar with the issue at the institution told us that the committee has not been proactive in pushing authorities to pay gratuity to those who would want to receive their money as that option was earlier discussed.

Our efforts to talk to Unima Staff Union secretary Elias Mwakilama yielded no results.

And when contacted on Thursday, Ministry of Education spokesperson Mphatso Nkuonera, said he would revert “whenever the response is ready at the soonest opportunity.”

We wanted to get clarification from the ministry on who is responsible to settle the gratuities, and if, perhaps, any guidance was given.

But education policy expert Dr Steve Sharra said in an interview that it would be imperative to resolve the issue before it erodes the gains made in the wake of delinking.

He said: “This lingering issue of service gratuities is possibly a resource issue granted that the delinking was an expensive undertaking.”

The public universities delinking, which was effective May 4 2021, was aimed at improving governance and operational efficiency in the autonomous institutions including increasing access to higher education.