By Vincent Gunde
President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera will on the 1st May, 2025 preside over the 2025 Labour Day celebrations at the Balaka Stadium, this is the day Malawians are expecting anxiously that President Chakwera will address the challenges rocking workers in the country.
Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) Secretary General Charles Kumchenga has been quoted in the media having advised employees to wait until on 1st May, 2025 on how President Chakwera will address the issues of workers in Malawi which are on his table.
On the other hand, the Malawi Congress of Trade Union (MCTU)- the umbrella body of all Workers Unions in Malawi is also waiting for President Chakwera to address the Malawian workers’ demands on upward adjustments of salaries per month to match with the country’s cost of living.
President Chakwera is holding the key to whether workers will give contact and dialogue a chance or protesting against government for treating them as not important in the country while politician’s demands are met on the very same day.
Mrs. Elizabeth Kaliza Banda of Area 51 in Lilongwe, a serving secondary school teacher, has asked President Chakwera to have a second look at the teachers’ concerns with a caution that taking them as third class citizens in government, his fall will start from there.
Kaliza Banda said President Chakwera could have consulted former Presidents of Malawi on how they were promoting teachers other than the way he has done by promoting some teachers and leaving behind many teachers not happy.
He said teachers are the ones to man the voting processes on the 16th September, 2025 saying those teachers will do the work with anger in their hearts that government is not listening to their concerns and cries.
The woman has claimed that many teachers are retiring without reaching their mandatory age observing that beside retiring, many of them are not accessing their money in time and others, have closed their eyes for good while waiting for their moneys.
She said the previous governments did a good job to the pensioners unlike this MCP wondering what is wrong for the MCP to fail to deliver in all the categories and what is it they have delivered in the 5 years stay in government.
“The workers are angry and hungry, your timely response to their demands will make them to renew their trust in you to cross the river Jordan, and failing which, you will sink into the deep waters on the 16th September, 2025 elections.” Sad Kaliza Banda.
