Fired MRA workers petition Mutharika

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR
Some of the retrenched employees of the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) have written President Bingu wa Mutharika praying that he should reverse the tax collector’s decision to lay them off.

The fired employees, who are being represented by Alick Makwenda and Good Chakaka Nyirenda, claim they were “cruelly and unfairly treated by their employer on the implementation of the flawed restructuring exercise” hence the need for Mutharika to intervene.

The Presidential Spokesperson Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba could not be reached on his mobile phone yesterday when The Sunday Times wanted to verify and confirm if Mutharika had received the petition.

In their November 4, 2010 letter entitled”concerns over the conduct of the retrenchment exercise by the MRA”, the disgruntled workers have expressed displeasure over the whole restructuring process arguing management brought it as a deliberate ploy to punish and eliminate certain individuals who had issues with their seniors.

They further claim that there was no transparency in the manner the retrenchment was carried out, arguing it was strange MRA was firing workers at a time when the body was in desperate need of additional members of staff.

“We are now made to believe that the exercise was meant to punish certain individuals for committing no sin at all. Of course we acknowledge that some individuals have taken advantage of the situation to get rid of persons they did not like,” say the workers who are themselves “Concerned MRA Retrenched Employees”.

“We are very sure that you [Mutharika] would not condone such malicious and retrogressive motives.  Our firm belief is that you would not condone steps that derail your vision to create jobs and reduce unemployment. What has happened at MRA is inescapably the perpetuation of unemployment and poverty which runs counter to your cherished policies and vision to reduce unemployment and poverty.

“MRA ought to have told us that some employees would lose their jobs. This would have made us to plan for our future. We have not planned for our future because of the lack of information. We had very legitimate expectations that we would work until we reach the mandatory retirement age. We have also been shocked that some of our colleagues who faced the retrenchment have been reinstated to their previous positions. This buttresses our argument on lack of criteria,” they say.

They also complain that some of the severance allowances were very meager [K200,000.00 for sum of us] such that it was difficult for them to plan for the future. 

In their conclusion, the employees have requested Mutharika to appoint an independent team to inquire into the “highhandedness manner in which the restructuring exercise was carried out”, challenging that it is only through this way that the president and the whole nation will come to know about the reality on the ground.

The letter has also been copied to various stakeholders including Ministers of Finance and Labour, Ken Kandodo and Yunus Mussa, respectively, Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU), Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), Malawi Watch and Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), among others.
END