Nankhumwa Pens Lazarus Chakwera; ‘Mr President, Pay Civil Servants Their August Salary’

Leader of opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has asked President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse Alliance administration to pay all civil servants their August salaries.

Nankhumwa, who is also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Vice President for the South, made the call in a letter addressed to President Chakwera. He said for some months civil servants have not been getting their salaries on time.

According to Nankhumwa, Malawians are already suffering due to the prevailing unfriendly economic environment where prices of basic commodities have risen sharply, including rentals and transport costs. So, it is catastrophic for a civil servant, who is already under-paid, to be receiving salary late.

“As I write, civil servants have not yet received their August salary, which was also the case with the July salaries.

“That is not all. Members of Parliament (MPs) have also not been receiving their salaries and allowances on time dating back to the Budget Session meeting of May, 2021.

As I write, various parliamentary committees are meeting and members have not been receiving allowances for fuel and others,” reads part of the letter

Nankhumwa added: “We are informed that these delays are caused by some technical challenges facing the government paying system, the Integrated Financial Management Information System, or IFMIS. Whether or not this is true, what civil servants want, Your Excellency, is to be receiving their salaries on time.”

He further said: “These civil servants, their families and dependents woke up very early on June 23, 2020 to cast their vote, which culminated in your ascension to power. It is, therefore, important that when the same people are suffering today, you must always listen to and side with them.”

According to Nankhumwa, Civil servants have responsibilities to take care of their families and dependents,

 “Schools have just opened and parents, including civil servants, are supposed to pay school fees for their children.

Most civil servants live in rented houses and one cannot begin to imagine the embarrassment they have to endure at the hands of their landlords as a result of late payment of salaries,” said Nankhumwa in a letter.

In a related development, President Chakwera on Thursday made a surprise visit at the Capitol Hill in Lilongwe to seek clarity over continued delays in the payment of civil servants’ salaries.