ITEM disposed off
by SELLINA NKOWANI - Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 14:48:14

The Institute of Technology and Management (Item), a subsidiary of Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) has been disposed-off and almost all the workers have been laid off.

Item was formerly known as Multi-country.

According to a document made available to Malawi News, the institution was disposed-off on June 30, 2008 “because training is not the core business of the company”.

It further states that MTL has been undergoing restructuring process since 2006 hence the development.

“The company has now been repositioned to focus on its core business. As a result of the repositioning, it was resolved that the Institute of Technology and Management, a subsidiary of MTL should be disposed –off since training is not the core business of the company.”

This was soon after the students had sat for their June semester examinations.

However, some former employees of the company have not yet been given their pension money despite several attempts to do so from the company’s pension managers, Old Mutual.

According to one of the ex-employees Peter Kachimanga who worked as a guard for the three years that the institution has been operational, Old Mutual has told them that they will get their pension after they die or they reach the age of 55 because they have not been fired from work but rather the company has been disposed-off.

Kachimanga said from the Security department 19 people have faced the chop.

However, in the document which is also the notice of retrenchment that Item wrote to its ex employees, it clearly states that the employees would get their pension.

“In view of the above development you are given one month notice that your services will not be required after the close of business on 30th June, 2008. You will be therefore eligible for the following benefits, Severance pay at the rate of two weeks pay for each completed year of service, refund of pension contributions subject to the rules of the Pension Fund, repatriation allowance in the sum of K15,000,” the document reads in part.

According to Kachimanga most employees with the grade as his,got about K12,450 as their severance pay calculated at K4,150 per year for three years.

On the other hand, Kachimanga claims that the registrar of the defunct institution Lyness Nkungula got her pension refund.

“This is what we do not understand. Some of us are being told that we will not be given our money and yet others have been given. What’s happening? It seems the management is not giving us the correct information,” he said.

However, Nkungula in an interview refuted the allegations saying she did not get the pension money because she was not on the pension scheme.

“That’s not true. I never got the money. Well I cannot speak about Item because I am longer with Item, but the fact remains that I never got the money,” she said adding that Kachimanga has blown the thing out of proportion.

Benefits manager for MTL Dalitso Jumbe said the issue was beyond MTL and Old Mutual because the two were simply following the laid down guidelines as stipulated in the Taxation Act.

Jumbe, however, said they are still negotiating with Old Mutual to find a solution to the matter.

“We are trying to negotiate with Old Mutual so that payment can be made. But we do know that they (Old Mutual) have a right to follow the rules, but given a chance we would love to have the ex-employees paid their dues,” he said.

According to Jumbe, the Item pension scheme started in 2005 and he was pessimistic of whether there is substantial cash.

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