Malopa awards himself K1m salary, MBC staff unpaid
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Director General Bright Malopa awarded himself a salary of about K1,300,000.00 million despite government implementing a zero deficit budget where new recruitments, salary increments, foreign travel and any other luxurious purchases by government ministries, departments and agencies have been suspended.
In a leaked document that Nyasa Times has got in its possession, Malopa wrote government on 28th October, 2010 proposing a new salary structure for the organization following a proposed merger of MBC radios and Malawi Television.
Although Malopa wrote the proposed salary structure in October 2010 the merger of the two organization only came to fruition in August, 2011.
However, in responding to Malopa’s new salary proposal, government through the Ministry of Statutory Corporations wrote back giving MBC ago ahead to the new salary structure effecting them from the 1st of February, 2011.
Since February, 2011 Malopa including his top brass of Chimwemwe Banda, Mzati Nkolokosa, Timpuza Mwamsambo, Hamilton Chimala, Geoffrey Kazembe, Felistus Chikusilo and Ronald Mateyu have been receiving the new salary ignoring all junior staff below them.
Junior staff are crying foul that this is complete theft of government funds as the proper merger of the two entities was only effected in August, six months after the top crew started receiving the new salary.
According the leaked document signed by D.M. Banda on behalf of Controller of Statutory Corporation, Malopa from 1st February, 2011, every month gets into his account K1, 367,884.00.
The document says that MBC’s Director of News and Programmes Chimwemwe Banda takes home every month K880, 185.00 and close ally Felistus Chikusilo also takes home the same amount.
Mzati Nkolokosa, Timpuza Mwamsambo, Hamilton Chimala and Geoffrey Kazembe and Ronald Mateyu are receiving in their account K568, 854.00 every month.
Although Malopa and his top crew are receiving these juicy salaries, according to the document, once the merger is officially accepted the lowest MBC employee will be getting K19, 276.00 which is less than K20, 000.
Currently, the merger is being challenged in a court of law although Malopa and his trusted allies still gets the new salary in his account.
Apart from these huge salaries, the MBC top brass is also entitled to official vehicles, huge fuel allocations, airtime, security, the best medical scheme and many other benefits including school fees of their kids being paid for.
Meanwhile, Malopa, Banda, Mateyu and Chikusilo are expected to answer a criminal offence where they are suspected to have pocked K23 million in tax payer’s money.
The money was provided by the Malawi Government to MBC to engage a consultant to wind up Malawi Television Limited and work on a new structure for MBC.
Instead of advertising and engaging the said consultant, the quartet decided to do the job itself and shared amongst themselves the K23 million.
Nonetheless, Workers Union President Augustine Lubani complained that those who returned to MBC after the court ruling “are not being assigned any duties” and some haven’t even been paid their September salaries.
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