Malawi to delay health workers pay, govt asks them to brace

Malawi Government has warned its employees in the health sector to expect a delay in the payments of their February salaries and nurses have since bemoaned the sad development.

According to a Memo from the Secretary for Health, a Mr. B.K Chapalapata to all district and central health directors and officers, the salary delay is due to change in payment system.

The country’s banks are switching their payment system following the adoption of the Malawi National Switch by government.

According to a Memo from the Secretary for Health, a Mr. B.K Chapalapata to all district and central health directors and officers, the salary delay is due to change in payment system.

The country’s banks are switching their payment system following the adoption of the Malawi National Switch by government.

A nurse at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital who opted for anonymity said the change in payment system is a welcome idea but the fact that it will cause a delay in salary makes it all worse because it will affect them in different ways and make their day to day life difficult as they rely on the salary in their daily activities.

“We rely on our salaries for our homes to survive. For me to get to work I need to use that same money for transport. I do not know but i just think there could have been another way that government could have used so that it should not lead to delay in salaries.”

In the Memo, Chapalapata also warned the employees to brace for more tough times ahead.

”I wish to inform you that there is a strong possibility that salaries for the month of February, 2015 will be delayed,” reads the Memo in part.

Chapalapata said it was not certain as for how long the ‘possible’ delay would last, warning ”There is also possibility of initial unexpected problems for the first few months.”

Recently, government has been facing industrial strikes in relation to salary increments and delays.

Malawi faces a severe shortage of health workers, a factor that has contributed greatly to high maternal mortality in the country.

Most clinical care is performed by mid-level providers an demotivating factors within the Malawian health system are pushing workers into private, non-governmental and other non-health related positions.

Most health workers are dumping the sector mostly due to delays and inconsistencies in salary payments as well as lack of transparent processes and criteria for upgrading or promotion.

The most recent health worker to patient densities (2009) are 0.019 physicians and 0.343 nursing and midwifery personnel per 1,000 population, and there are ongoing vacancies across all nursing and clinical cadres.

In addition to these shortages, the health sector in Malawi is also faced with uneven distribution of staff, with more than half of the doctors working in the four  central hospitals and a few in district hospitals.—(Additional reporting by Taonga Mtambo, Nyasa Times)