![MSB sale was another form of cashgate]()
Over 400 retrenched staff of FDH and Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) have entered a third day of vigil at the office of the financial institution’s chief executive officer Thom Mpinganjira in a bid to force him pay them their pension and severance pay.
[caption id="attachment_108209" align="alignright" width="600"]
![Thom Mpinganjira: Fired workers protest at his office]()
Thom Mpinganjira: Fired workers protest at his office[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_108208" align="alignright" width="600"]
![MSB sale was another form of cashgate]()
MSB sale was another form of cashgate[/caption]
Spokesperson for the retrenched employees Chifundo Soko said the vigil, staged in Blantyre, will only be called off after the banks honour payments of their dues.
“It is now close to a month since we were retrenched yet management is reluctant to give us our dues.
“We have been asking them to pay us but the answer has always been give us time, the vigil is the last resort,” said Soko.
Financial tycoon Mpinganjira controversially bought MSB which was 100 per cent state owned and merged it with his FDH Bank last year, raising fears of imminent retrenchment but both the government and FDH Bank officials assured the nation on one would lose a job at the banks.
However after the retrenchment, minister of Labour Henry Mussa said the government approved the retrenchments saying there were duplicating positions in the two banks following the merger and as a private entity, they had to maximize on profits.
However chairman of community and social welfare committee of parliament Richard Chimwendo Banda said the committee has summoned Labour ministry officials to explain why it allowed the retrenchment to take place after assurances by Finance minister Goodall Gondwe that o one would lose a job.
Officials from FDH Holdings including Mpinganjira could not be reached for comment.
Thom Mpinganjira: Fired workers protest at his office[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_108208" align="alignright" width="600"]
MSB sale was another form of cashgate[/caption]
Spokesperson for the retrenched employees Chifundo Soko said the vigil, staged in Blantyre, will only be called off after the banks honour payments of their dues.
“It is now close to a month since we were retrenched yet management is reluctant to give us our dues.
“We have been asking them to pay us but the answer has always been give us time, the vigil is the last resort,” said Soko.
Financial tycoon Mpinganjira controversially bought MSB which was 100 per cent state owned and merged it with his FDH Bank last year, raising fears of imminent retrenchment but both the government and FDH Bank officials assured the nation on one would lose a job at the banks.
However after the retrenchment, minister of Labour Henry Mussa said the government approved the retrenchments saying there were duplicating positions in the two banks following the merger and as a private entity, they had to maximize on profits.
However chairman of community and social welfare committee of parliament Richard Chimwendo Banda said the committee has summoned Labour ministry officials to explain why it allowed the retrenchment to take place after assurances by Finance minister Goodall Gondwe that o one would lose a job.
Officials from FDH Holdings including Mpinganjira could not be reached for comment.