S C A N D A L
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Former workers for the Millennium
Villages Programme (MVP) in the country have threatened to drag the
United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) Malawi office to the industrial
relations court for failure to pay out their pension, two years after
their contracts expired.
Seventeen former MVP employees who were
contract service holders with UNDP between 2006 and 2011 argue that the
UN headquarters duly authorised payment of the said pension, but that
the local office 'for unknown reasons' has been silent for two years.
In an email reponse o n M o n d a y,
UNDP Communications Assistant Steven Kamponda said his office is aware
about the issue, but is yet to make any decision.
Lawyer for the ex-employees Timothy
Kalembo, has warned the UN body he would be commencing court proceedings
if the payment is not made within 14 days from December 6, last year.
"Our clients have now instructed us that
your office should make proper arrangements, enabling them to sign the
certificate of no contest as required by their contracts and pay them
their pension within 14 days.
"If we do not hear from you within the
stated period, our clients have instructed us, we shall commence legal
proceedings against you, without informing you whatsoever," reads a
letter signed for by Kalembo.
The letter says despite persistent reminders on the matter, nothing has been done.
"Our cl ients have attempted to remind
your honourable office to fulfil this contractual obligation, to no
avail. They strongly contend that the conduct shown by your office is
tantamount to violation of their right to fair labour practices," reads
the letter.
The ex-employees say they are entitled
to be paid a lump sum, in lieu of pension equivalent to 8.33 percent of
the monthly remuneration rate to their whole remuneration, according to
article 6 Part B of the specific contracts, which they individually
signed with the UNDP.
They say payments are long overdue and should have been made by 2011.
An e-mail communication from Hanrietta
De Beer of Office Human Resource (OHR) at the UNDP headquarters in New
York, to former UNDP resident representative, Richard Dictus shows that
country's office was cleared to handle the matter.
"On behal f of the Director of OHR, I
confirm that in consultation with the Regional Bureau for Africa,
exceptional approval is granted for the lump sum arrangement for Service
Contracts (SC) that will provide 8.33 per cent of the base monthly
remuneration in lieu of pension.
"The exception is also granted
retroactively, as an interim measure until resources are put in place
for coverage under a proper scheme as the one that WFP has accessed.
Please find attached templates for the SC and Certificates of No
Contest," reads the communication, dated June 20, 2011.
In a response to an e-mailed
questionnaire on the matter yesterday, the UNDP said it has been in
touch with its headquarters on the issue, since 2012.
"As contractual matters have legal
implications, the process of reaching an agreement was prolonged, and
this was a unique case to UNDP. As per UNDP's established procedures,
service contract holders are considered as consultants, and as such,
they do not participate in the United Nations pension scheme.
"However, with the recent revision of
the UNDP service contract guidelines, provisions could be made to
encourage service contract holders to participate in national and/or
other private pension schemes. At present, we are in the process of
finalizing paperwork to have the UNDP's final decision on this issue,"
reads the response from Kamponda.
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