Former first gentleman Richard Banda has been taken to court for alleged non-payment of salary arrears and terminal benefits totalling K4.7 million to about 200 labourers at his Njaliwe Farm in Kasungu.
The court action follows a decision by Kasungu district labour office to refer the case to the Industrial Relations Court (IRC), claiming the employer is not cooperative.
The workers lodged the complaint with the labour office, claiming that Banda, a retired chief justice of Malawi and Swaziland, has not been paying them their wages for months, including terminal benefits after the last farming season.
While confirming the development, Kasungu district labour officer Olive Panyanja declined to give more details pertaining to the matter. Instead, she referred The Nation to Simon Mbvundula, spokesperson in the Ministry of Labour.
Mbvundula said: “Normally issues of this nature are ably handled by our district labour officers without being referred to courts of higher jurisdictions such as the industrial court.
“Nonetheless, our officers in Kasungu have on several occasions summoned the employer [Banda or his representatives], but unfortunately they haven’t been cooperative enough. This would have been a lot easier had the employers availed themselves so that the issue is settled amicably and without hustles.”
He further stated that the workers’ desperation is what led them into seeking the intervention of the labour office.
“They are also gripped with fear after it emerged that the former owners of the farmland expressed interest to repossess it. Njaliwe Farm was subleased by the former chief justice the right honourable Richard Banda from Kamuzu Academy a few years ago, but we understand the institution wants the farm back and this, coupled with non-payment of salaries and terminal benefits, has fuelled tension and desperation in the former workers at the farm,” said Mbvundula.
The disgruntled labourers on Monday converged at the district’s labour office en mass and in an interview with The Nation, one of them, who only identified herself as Matilda, said they have not been paid for over seven months and that they are stranded at the farm since they do not have transport money to travel back to their respective districts.
The Nation could not get an immediate comment from Banda’s special assistant and farm manager a Mr Ligolowe despite numerous attempts.
