By Benadetta Chiwanda Mia:
There is a fresh push on the government to operationalise the much-awaited workers’ compensation fund to address challenges in the area.
Malawi is the only country in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region without a workers’ compensation fund.
This comes 24 years after the Workers Compensation Act, which provides for the establishment of the fund, was enacted.
The fund is meant to provide for compensation for injuries suffered or diseases contracted by workers in the course of their employment or for death resulting from such injuries or diseases.
In an interview, Malawi Congress of Trade Union Secretary General Madalitso Njolomole expressed concern that many workers operate in hazardous conditions that jeopardise their safety, yet those harmed often receive no compensation.
Njolomole then called on the government to expedite operationalistion of the fund and the establishment of the Workers’ Compensation Authority.
“We wish that the government can come up with this fund as early as yesterday so that we, the workers, are assured of our compensation in time and we are assured of our better working condition,” he said.
Employers Consultative Association of Malawi Executive Director George Khaki said once operationalised, the fund would transition the current workers’ compensation management from an employer liability scheme, which relies on the employer’s capacity to compensate for work-related injuries, to a social insurance scheme.
“We need to update our legal instruments, which have been unchanged for the past 20 years, to align with international labor conventions ratified by the country,” Khaki said.
In 2019, the labor sector paid approximately K848 million in compensation settlements.
The 2020 National Occupational Safety and Health report indicated that in 2019 alone, Malawi recorded 2,417 workplace accidents, resulting in 39 fatalities.
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