Parliament summons Labour ministry over Malawi Savings Bank retrenchment

Parliament has summoned ministry of labour principal secretary and his team to give a detailed account on why the ministry allowed FDH Holdings to retrench 250 employees at Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) after assurances that no one would lose a job at the bak.

Richard Chimwendo Banda: Concerned with MSB job cuts
Richard Chimwendo Banda: Concerned with MSB job cuts

Chairman of Community and Social Welfare committee of parliament Richard Chimwendo Banda said just a few months ago, the minister of finance Goodall Gondwe assured parliamentarians that the government decision to sell off all stakes in Malawi Savings Bank would not result in loss of employment even for a single worker.

“The officials from the ministry of Labour have assured us that they will come very soon, they will appear before us because this is a serious matter, we don’t want more people to lose their jobs at MSB. We want to find out if the government deliberately lied to us that no one would lose a job at MSB,” he said.

He said parliament rejected government decision to sell off MSB because of, among other reasons, fear that jobs would be lost at the bank.

Principal secretary for Labour Patrick Kabambe said the ministry officials will appear before the committee.

Earlier, minister of Labour Henry Mussa said FDH Holdings consulted the ministry before the retrenchment and government officials were convinced there was need for the retrenchment.

He said re retrenchment was necessitated because of the merger between FDH Bank and MSB saying there were duplicate positions for one position.

FDH Holdings head of marketing Sobhuza Ngwenya said the retrenchment has made MSB more effective and efficient than ever before as it starts a long journey for listing on the Malawi Stock Exchange.

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trumpet
7 years ago

Tengu ….if u don’t know labor laws better be silent than expose ur ignorance here.. upon trasfer of an entity all employment contracts are transfered automatically to the new entity fdh has no right or what so ever to retrench employees that is un fair dismisal which calls for compesation or restatement of the employees

Tengu
Tengu
7 years ago

Politicians sometimes speak politically. MSB ceased to exist when its ownership transferred to another commercial bank that bought it. Since a commercial bank cannot own and run another commercial bank, the purchase of MSB dissolved MSB. Staff should have demanded their dues on sale of the MSB and negotiated new contracts at the buyer bank. No one can lose a job at MSB which does not exist. A non existent entity cannot pay dues. Did the “retrenched employees” sign employment contracts at the buyer bank? Can they hold the buyer bank accountable for their dues after the MSB was dissolved?

Kenkkk
Kenkkk
7 years ago
Reply to  Tengu

It doesn’t matter when one entity is bought by another or merged, the staff’s continuity of service is guaranteed. Hence fdh should pay them unles malawi labour laws are different from other countries I know and have worked. Fdh bought msb more than a year ago and the same staff were being paid by it, so they can’t deny staff retrenchment compensations or what they are supposed to get.

Dambula
Dambula
7 years ago

I cry for my beloved Malawi, where is it heading

Banthu
Banthu
7 years ago

God have mercy on our nation

malabada
malabada
7 years ago

Please Parliament help the people who voted for you to be there

munthu
munthu
7 years ago

We saw this coming

Sunganani L Manjolo
Sunganani L Manjolo
7 years ago

I had said it once FDH bought MSB that an MSB employee with good foresight would do well to start looking for other job options because I just didn’t see the retrenchment not happening.

Now I am not sure what the Parliamentary Committee will accomplish with the summons. FDH remains a private entity and they cannot be forced to do anything about the 250 who have been let go. The question, I think, should be about what those 250 will do with their packages after retrenchment…and that is not FDH’s responsibility.

Machende
Machende
7 years ago

FDH Bank ya ma Hule,mabwana onse mahule okha okha,ena amanyengela mu office ena amanyenga a G4S,ena amanyenga azikazi a eni ,ena amanyenga masekilitale Ethel,Sara,Ruth Kayira,Mandisa ,Chenga,Mada,ena mwa azimai ochinditsa mu FDH.

Matombodya
Matombodya
7 years ago

Good move by the committee. Can i add on your shoplist of what to attend to? The Pension Act provides that pension shall not be taxable. The Taxation Act provides that pension be taxed. The pension act provision was deferred. Can you seek that the Pension act provision on taxation of pension be implemented please. You agreed on this in parliament through the act

observer
observer
7 years ago

DEAD PEOPLES PARTY(DPP). Instead of creating jobs in the already jobless Country, you’re now selling government property and retrenching people. do you know how many people have been affected? the answer is NO because your stupid Gay President amati ALIBE PULOBULEMU. it’s 250 employees + plus their families, parents, dependants, house girl/boy, amawokala and many others.

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