Malawi Congress of Trade Union (MCTU) has questioned  the Ministry of Labour, Skills and Innovations, on why the new minimum wage will be implemented on January 2020 yet the wage was announced in July this year.

Speaking to The Daily Times newspaper, MCTU General Secretary, Dennis Kalekeni, revealed that a gazette by the Ministry shows that the effective date for the new minimum wage is 5 months late, considering that the 2019/20 fiscal year began in July.

“Initially, we were engaged in consultations to come to terms on the minimum wage amount and instead of consulting again on the implementation date, they have decided to just implement it and as workers we do not agree with the set date,” Kalekeni said.

During the presentation of the 2019/20 National Budget, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Joseph Mwanamvekha, announced that the minimum wage had been increased to K35,000 per month from K25,000, translating into K1,346 per day from K962 per day.