National News

Minister wants firms to submit list of expatriates

Minister of Labour Vitumbiko Mumba says he has asked all companies that have expatriates to submit to his ministry their qualifications, job descriptions, visas and curriculum vitae to enable the ministry to check if the jobs cannot be done by Malawians.

The minister said this in an interview on Friday when he cleared Topmax Malata Company in Lilongwe to resume operations after rectifying various labour issues that had been identified during his earlier visit, which included exploitation of local workers.

Mumba (R) with one of the Topmax officials
during the inspections | George Singini

The minister has been conducting random inspection visits to various companies and factories to check if their operating in line with the country’s labour laws.

Mumba said his inspections have established that a number of foreign investors have expatriates that are doing jobs that Malawians can handle, and that Malawians are being used as source of cheap labour and being engaged as casual labourers for several years.

Said the minister: “Malawi has potential to fight unemployment but some investors are employing foreigners for jobs that locals can handle while others are engaging workers as casual labourers for years.

“If such jobs were given to Malawians and if Malawians were being offered permanent employment, the country would ease unemployment. Such kind of exploitation should not be tolerated.”

He said the country has many universities and training institutions that are producing graduates, that the companies can employ.

Meanwhile, Malawi Congress of Trade Union (MCTU) president Charles Kumchenga has hailed the minister for the move, saying what the minister has done in inspecting companies is what was agreed during the tripartite meeting for ministry, MCTU and Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam).

He said the MCTU is also concerned with the treatment of workers in some companies where employers do not care for their workers’ welfare.

On his part, Ecam council member Lameck Tchaka observed that the companies being taken to task were not members of Ecam.

He has since called on the companies to join Ecam and benefit from the advice that it provides to companies to respect labour laws.

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