By Daniel Zimba:
The Industrial Relations Court (IRC) sitting in Lilongwe has ordered the government’s Department of Human Resource Management and Development to halt the recruitment of new officers for the position of Assistant Human Resource Manager.
Deputy chairperson for IRC instructed the department to suspend the recruitment until July 3, 2025, when the court will review the situation at the request of 147 civil servants who claim that they have been overlooked on promotions over the years.
Aggrey Luwe, chairperson for the human resource civil servants, expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of promotions and recruitment, noting that some employees had served up to 25 years at the same grade “M” without getting promoted.
“We feel that we are being treated unfairly,” Luwe said, adding that some workers had been in one position for 18 to 25 years, contrary to the established promotion guidelines.
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Luwe further faulted the government for attempting to recruit new personnel while ignoring the claims of long-serving staff members who are awaiting promotion.
Chimwemwe Kalua, who is the lawyer representing the concerned civil servants, expressed satisfaction with the recent court order, saying he expected the government to abide by it.
“My expectation is that the government has to comply and I hope they have complied,” Kalua said.
Efforts to reach Ken Ntonga, the Public Relations Officer for the Human Resource Management Department, for a comment were unsuccessful.
