Ex-MYP officers protest at OPC

Over 2 000  former Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) members from all over the country on Monday staged a peaceful protest at Capital Hill in Lilongwe over delays in their pension payments totalling K300 million (about $1 million).

The former employees want government to give them their pension and compensation dating back to 1993 when they lost their jobs after the Malawi Army demobilised the group in a disarmament exercise, Operation Bwezani.

In an interview, former MYPs national coordinator Grey Chibaya Chisale said they met Deputy Chief Secretary Willie Samute at the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) who assured them that they will start receiving their payments from Wednesday.

Chisale claimed government officials will not include notice and compensation payment for transparency and accountability reasons. Samute, however, could not be reached for comment.

One of the former MYPs, Edith Banda, said she joined the protest to force government to fulfil promises it made in 2010.

“I was promised that government would pay my pension and compensation because I was gang-raped by seven soldiers during operation Bwezani,’’ claimed an emotional Banda.