HRCC Blasts Business Shutdown Call, Accuses Traders of “Grave Deceit” in EIS Dispute

The Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) has sharply confronted business associations planning a nationwide shutdown, accusing them of dishonesty and bad faith in ongoing negotiations with government over the controversial Electronic Invoicing System (EIS).

In a strongly worded letter dated 3 May 2026, HRCC Board Chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba demands urgent clarification from the Cross Border Traders Association and the Business Association of Malawi over their decision to proceed with a three-day shutdown from 4 to 6 May.  

At the heart of the standoff is what HRCC describes as a blatant contradiction: while traders had privately accepted and expressed support for the rollout of EIS during mediated talks, they are now publicly rejecting the system in what the committee calls a misleading and deceptive campaign.  

HRCC says it facilitated meetings between the business community and key government institutions, including the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Finance, and the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), to resolve concerns around doing business in the country.  

According to the committee, those discussions produced a clear outcome: traders understood and supported EIS, but wanted government to urgently address forex shortages crippling their operations.  

But HRCC now says the shutdown call—and the messaging surrounding it—undermines that consensus.

“To our surprise,” the letter states, “the shutdown advert carries the same message as before the talks and wrongly denounces EIS,” creating a false impression that government has ignored the traders’ concerns.  

The committee goes further, describing the move as “a grave deceit and omission” that risks derailing ongoing dialogue and misleading the public.

Crucially, HRCC reveals that dialogue had not collapsed. Meetings with the Reserve Bank and Ministry of Finance were still pending, delayed only by logistical challenges, and were expected to address the traders’ key concern—access to foreign exchange.  

The development raises serious questions about the motives behind the shutdown and whether it is a genuine protest or a strategic pressure tactic.

HRCC has now put the business associations on the spot, demanding to know whether they still stand by the shutdown and its messaging, or whether the advert misrepresents their position.

The committee says it needs an immediate response to determine its next steps and to inform the nation on the true status of the negotiations.

With the shutdown set to begin in hours, the standoff exposes deep cracks in trust between stakeholders—and leaves ordinary Malawians bracing for disruption in an already fragile economy.

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