Exposed: Sexual exploitation rampant at Shayona Cement offices in Lilongwe
Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has exposed sexual exploitation at Shoyona Cement Corporation’s head office, Kanengo in the capital Lilongwe.
During the press conference on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in the capital Lilongwe, CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa showed journalists a 17:26 minutes video disgusting abuse of power by an employer of foreign nationality.
The video is a reflection of two complaints linked to one Jayesh Kumar Dalwad, an Indian who was working as an assistant manager at Shayona Cement Corporation at Kanengo in Lilongwe.
According to CDEDI the suspected is reportedly freed Malawi to his home country India amid pending arrests
“The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) regrets to note that some foreign nationals, notably senior managers at workplaces take advantage of the desperation among our young people and other vulnerable sections of the population to exploit them, including treating them like sex objects.
“CDEDI has arrived at this assertion after analyzing two complaints linked to one Jayesh Kumar Dalwad, an Indian who was working as an assistant manager at Shayona Cement Corporation at Kanengo in Lilongwe,” reads part of CDEDI statement.
Naniwa adds, “Barely hours after we appealed to Malawians to report suspected cases of tax injustices that are rampant in companies that have foreign connections, we received a dossier containing letters and a 17:26 minutes video showing disgusting abuse of power by an employer of foreign nationality. In the video, a male house-keeper (name withheld) is being forced to caress his male boss’s private parts.
“It should be put on record that this disheartening video was recorded as proof of the dehumanising acts the housekeeper was subjected to every morning, Monday through Saturday, as a condition to keep his job. Tired of the sickening ordeal, the worker reported the matter to his superiors who, on several occasions, dismissed him purportedly due to lack of evidence”.
CDEDI explains further, “In the act of sympathy, a fellow employee offered the abused worker a smartphone, hence the recording of the video that brings to light the dehumanizing ordeal. Both the quality and the posture of the victim attest that he was in total disapproval of what he was made to do, and was not a familiar smartphone user. He was unsure if he would get the much-needed evidence to prove his case.
“From what we have gathered, this video was presented to the company’s Operations Manager(OPM), through a flash disk. CDEDI also received from a female employee at the same company claims of rape linked to the same manager”.
According to a letter reference number SLHR/2024/04/28 dated March 28, 2024 under the headline ‘Closure of an issue reported verbally to Human Resources Department’ signed by one Luke Dzimbiri, Human Resource (HR) Supervisor at Shayona Cement Corporation Kanengo.
Regrettably, the innocent female worker’s complaint was simply wished-away in the pretext that the suspect had bolted, and that the matter was not reported to management soon enough.
Namiwa observes, “In a bid to hear management’s side of the story on the sickening video, it was learned that the so-called Jayesh was suspended while the worker he was sexually abusing resigned on dubious grounds through a letter dated March 28, 2024, and the following day the company accepted his resignation and committed to paying him all his dues.
“However, the victim was summoned by the company’s operations manager on April 6, 2024 over the leaked video which was presented in a flash disk”.
When CDEDI tried to talk to management at the Shayona Kanengo office, Mr. Dzimbiri the HR supervisor, while only showing the victim’s resignation letter and management’s acceptance of the same, referred us to the head office for details.
“At the head office, we spoke to Mr. Spencer Mbaka the HR Manager over the phone as he was not present in the office, and while confirming the resignation and suspension respectively, Mr. Mbaka declined to divulge details and referred us to the company’s lawyers.
“Meanwhile, it is important to highlight that CDEDI further engaged Mr. Patel, Shayona Cement Managing Director (MD) who said the company suspended Mr. Dalwad after learning about the shocking video. He confirmed that Mr. Dalwad later fled the country,” said Namiwa.
CDEDI statement reads, “At being quizzed why he opted to suspend Jayesh instead of reporting him to police, Mr. Pater advised CDEDI to talk to his lawyers. Nonetheless, our investigations show that Mr. Dalwad left Malawi for India through Kamuzu International Airport on Tuesday, March 21, 2024.
“Consequently, CDEDI wrote the Inspector General (IG) of Malawi Police Service (MPS) Madam Merlyn Yolamu to engage Mr. Patel for information that can lead to Mr. Jayesh Dalwad’s arrest so that he can be tried in Malawi for the crimes he committed”.
Namiwa therefore demands, “Mr. Patel should accept that as MD the back stops at him, therefore CDEDI dutifully demand the following from him: Undertakes to cooperate with the Malawi Police Service to ensure that Mr. Jayesh Dalwad faces the law on both allegations.
“He, on behalf of Mr. Jayesh Dalwad, whom he brought into the country and employed, publicly apologized to the affected individuals, their families, and Malawians in general. Liaise with relevant line ministries, notably ministries of Gender and Labour to devise a mechanism to ensure that the people that Mr. Jayesh Dalwad sexually abused are assisted to fully recover from the trauma inflicted on them”.
CDEDI adds, “There should be compensation to the concerned employees. Demonstrate that the law was followed to the letter in the recruitment of Mr. Jayesh Dalwad and all other foreign nationals employed by Shayona Cement Corporation.
“CDEDI would like to warn that failure to do as demanded within the next seven days, CDEDI will be forced to hold peaceful demonstrations against Mr. Patel and his management. Last, but not the least, CDEDI hereby appeals to Malawians who are forced to working in derogatory environments or are abused in any way by their foreign masters to report the same to relevant authorities, with copies to CDEDI”.
Namiwa appeals, “It is unacceptable that the people that are corruptly taking up Malawian job opportunities should enslave them, and even abuse them sexually. Let us join hands to stop this madness.
“Malawi is the only country we have as our home and foreigners to come to live with us must treat us with the respect we deserve”.
Shayona’s authorities are yet to respond on the matter as we went to the press.
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