Parliament staff resume work

Parliament Secretariat staff returned to work yesterday after a two-day strike that disrupted the Mid-term Budget Review Meeting.

The staff accepted phased implementation of their demanded salary increment which they had initially rejected. The staff will be given 18 percent in arrears from October 2014 and get six percent in July 2015 but also backdated to October 2014.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Parliament Staff Union president Leonard Tilingamawa said the workers have agreed to resolve the matter amicably since government has committed to paying them the demanded 24 percent in arrears.

“On Wednesday around six in the evening we received a letter from the Office of President and Cabinet [OPC] indicating the commitment that government will pay the 24 percent with effect from 1st October.

“But the implementation will be in two phases, where phase one will start immediately with the 18 percent and the remaining six percentage will be paid in July. So, since government has committed itself by way of writing, we have resolved the matter and resumed work,” he said.

However, many Members of Parliament (MPs) seemed not to be aware of the resumption as evidenced poor attendance, especially during the morning session.

Question time dominated business on Thursday (being private member’s day) and in the afternoon, the House passed the International Development Association Loan Authorisation Bill. The House was also expected to pass the Higher Education Students Loan Bill.

Reacting to the development, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) chief whip Robin Lowe described the situation that ensued as unfortunate and a waste of time.

“So much business has been wasted and this might affect the length of this sitting. The Parliament Service Commission (PSC) and government also haven’t helped things because they had enough time to resolve these issues,” Lowe said.

Today, among other business, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe will present the Mid-term Budget Review Statement in Parliament.