| The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. |
TITLE: MALAWI HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
MALAWI
The year 1993 gave promise of ending one-man, one-party rule in
Malawi. In October 1992, Malawi's leader since independence,
the Life President, Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda, called for a
referendum to determine whether or not Malawi would continue as
a one-party state. On June 14, 1993, Malawians voted by a
margin of two to one in favor of a multiparty system. Two days
later Banda publicly accepted the results and acknowledged the
need for change.
In late 1993, seven political parties were legally registered
and operating openly, and multiparty elections were scheduled
for May 17, 1994. Dialog between the opposition and the ruling
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) resulted in the establishment of a
National Consultative Council (NCC) and a National Executive
Committee (NEC), both with representatives from all registered
parties, to oversee changes in the Constitution, laws,
constituency boundaries, and election rules and procedures. In
November, Parliament passed bills eliminating from the
Constitution single-party clauses (such as Banda's Life
Presidency), appending a bill of rights, establishing a
multiparty electoral law, and repealing detention-without-trial
provisions of the Public Security Act, as well as the
Forfeiture Act and Malawi's restrictive dress code. Late in
the year President Banda underwent brain surgery. During this
period, the MCP established a Presidential Council to rule in
his place. The Council dissolved in early December when
doctors pronounced Banda fit to resume presidential duties. As
1993 came to an end, President Banda's nominally parliamentary,
single-party Government was in a caretaker status.
Internal security is the responsibility of the National
Police. An increasingly assertive populace, the growing
independence of the judiciary, and an active opposition press,
in addition to international pressure and the predisposition of
some senior government officials, influenced the police force
to curtail the worst of its abuses against the Banda
Government's political opponents. The police, however, still
employed physical force in dealing with suspected criminals
and, in some cases, deprived them of their legal rights (see
Section 1.f.). There were no reports of police being tried and
punished in the courts for such abuse, but credible reports
indicated that prison officials were disciplined, and in some
instances fired, for such behavior.
During the referendum campaign, the MCP's Youth League and the
paramilitary Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP) intimidated and
harassed multiparty advocates. Intimidation by the Youth
League and the MYP diminished sharply after the referendum and
disappeared entirely in December when the army moved to disarm
the MYP. The initial stages of disarmament were violent; over
20 people were killed, and extensive property damage was done
to MYP and MCP facilities. Four soldiers also were killed.
The army quickly enlisted the cooperation of the police to
address civilian aspects of the disarmament operation.
Small, densely populated, and landlocked, Malawi has a
predominantly agricultural economy. Nearly 90 percent of the
population derives its income from farming. The main cash
crops are tobacco--Malawi's most important foreign exchange
earner--tea, coffee, and sugar. In 1993 the economy was rocked
by severe shortages of foreign exchange, high inflation, and
scarcity of critical agricultural and industrial inputs.
Shrinking real wages led to wildcat strikes throughout the
country, which exacerbated declines in productivity.
The gradual improvement in Malawi's dismal human rights record
evident in 1992 accelerated in the first half of 1993 as
campaigning commenced for the referendum. "Pressure groups"
(i.e., parties in waiting) began to hold public rallies,
attracting crowds often in excess of 20,000 in spite of
instances of MYP intimidation of multiparty supporters, police
manipulation of rally permits, and arbitrary detention of
opposition activists. Returning exiles were in several
instances detained on arrival. In some cases, opposition
leaders successfully took the Government, the MCP, and the MYP
to court for such abuses. Over a dozen political prisoners
were released in 1993, including Chakufwa Chihana, Vera Chirwa,
Gwanda Chakuamba Phiri, Fred Kazombo Mwale and three arrested
in 1965 in connection with an armed rebellion led by former
cabinet minister Chipembere.
Limitations on the activities of Asians remained in effect.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no political killings in Malawi in 1993. Although
both during and after the referendum campaign vague rumors
circulated of suspicious deaths at the hands of the police and
the MYP, they were difficult to substantiate, despite the
efforts of international observers monitoring politics and
human rights in Malawi. In February Flora Kapito, an employee
of the Electricity Supply Commission who had been arrested in
May 1992 for possession of multiparty literature, died of
injuries sustained while she was in prison. Opposition calls
to investigate the case of three Government ministers and a
parliamentarian who died suspiciously in 1983, officially in an
auto accident, yielded no response from the Government.
b. Disappearance
There were no reported cases of disappearance for political
reasons in 1993.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Credible reports indicated that police continued to beat
prisoners during initial detention and interrogation at police
stations. The police also continued to deny monitoring groups
access to these facilities, thus calling into question the
Government's willingness to hold police accountable for such
abuses.
There were no specific reports of women targeted for abuse by
the police or other Government entities in 1993. Conditions in
prisons improved, partly as a result of inspections and
recommendations by the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), but the Government acknowledged there was room for more
improvement. The prisons are seriously overcrowded, nutrition
is inadequate, and sanitation poor. The substandard conditions
can be attributed largely to a lack of funding. To improve the
penal system, authorities have demoted or fired abusive
wardens. In November Parliament separated the prison service
from police oversight and authority.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
In November Parliament passed amendments to the Preservation of
Public Security Act (PPSA), repealing those portions which
authorized detention without trial. The courts had already
been ordering the release of those detained without charge or
trial. By year's end, it was too early to determine how
effective the Government would be in ensuring that police no
longer arrested people without bringing charges against them or
referring their cases to the courts.
The early stages of the referendum campaign were marred by the
arbitrary arrest and detention of political opponents of the
MCP. United Democratic Front Chairman Bakili Muluzi was
arrested in February on charges that he had embezzled MCP funds
when he was the MCP's Administrative Secretary and then
Secretary General from 1977 to 1981. He was released on bail
on February 18. The court dismissed the case against Muluzi
for lack of evidence on April 1, but police rearrested him the
same evening indicating that they would file new charges for
the same offense. He was released the next day. Reverend
Peter Kaleso was arrested and briefly detained early in the
year for purportedly insulting the Life President while
speaking at a public rally. A magistrate judge later acquitted
Kaleso. In January Felix Mponda Phiri, editor of the New
Express, was detained on returning to Malawi with the first
edition of the paper, held for 17 days, and released without
being charged.
The number of new cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of
the Government's political opponents decreased gradually during
the referendum campaign and all but ceased thereafter.
However, arbitrary arrests and detentions of a less vocal
group, suspected criminals, did not decrease perceptibly.
Long-term prisoner Vera Chirwa was released in January. Her
husband Orton died in prison in 1992. Both were serving life
sentences on charges, widely considered spurious, of plotting
to overthrow the Government and assassinate the Life
President. Chakufwa Chihana, arrested in April 1992 and
sentenced in December of the same year on sedition charges, was
released on June 12, 1993. The Supreme Court of Appeals
reduced his original concurrent sentences of 18 and 24 months
to 9 months in March 1993, and he received the standard 3
months off for good behavior. In October, to mark President
Banda's return from surgery in South Africa, the Government
declared amnesty for 229 prisoners. These included people who
were convicted of political crimes, had served long sentences,
were ill, or had demonstrated good behavior. The remaining
prisoners considered that the process of determining
eligibility for amnesty was a random one and staged a riot,
during which two prisoners died.
Although the Banda Government never practiced forced exile as a
means of political control, a sizable number of Malawians left
the country over the years for political reasons. When these
voluntary exiles started to return to Malawi to participate in
activities prior to the referendum, police detained most and
held them without charge for periods ranging from 24 hours to
several months.
In a few cases, police continued to hold detainees despite
court release orders. Fred Kazombo Mwale, the President's
nephew, and two of his wives had been held without charge on a
presidential detention order since 1991. A High Court justice
ordered their release in early 1993, but police and prison
officials did not comply with this order. Mwale and his wives
were finally released in July as national and international
attention on their case intensified.
Edward Jika, of the Zambia-based United Front for Multiparty
Democracy, was detained in early 1993 when he entered Malawi.
A High Court justice ordered police and prison officials to
present him in court, which they failed to do. As a result,
the justice ordered his release. Police and prison officials
ignored this order also until shortly after the referendum,
when they released him.
Following the referendum, President Banda declared a general
amnesty for all exiles. Most remaining political detainees
were released, and exiles began to return to Malawi without
incident. In November Parliament created a returnees'
committee to assist the exiles in rejoining the community. The
committee estimated that approximately 500 Malawians returned
by year's end.
Incommunicado detention continues, but to a lesser degree.
Police continued sporadically to restrict access to prisoners.
Chakufwa Chihana's wife and his lawyer were at times denied the
right to visit him. The lawyer of returning exile Edward Jika
was denied access to his client. In July the High Court,
citing the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ruled
that there was no legal basis for restricting the access of
lawyers to their imprisoned clients. Subsequently, defense
lawyers could gain access to clients.
Pretrial detainees made up a high proportion of the prison
population. Poor record keeping and the reluctance of the
police force to account for its activities precluded an
accurate estimate of numbers of pretrial detainees. According
to sources in the legal community, however, there are probably
several hundred. The Government has acknowledged the problem
and attempted to address it by setting aside specific time for
court personnel to review and process pretrial cases.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Malawi has both traditional and modern court systems. In the
past, only the regional and national traditional courts tried
capital offenses. The Attorney General, however, announced the
suspension of these courts in October, citing the NCC's
intention to review the appropriate role of the traditional
court system. The trend toward moving serious criminal and
political cases from traditional to modern courts continued in
1993. In most cases, only the modern courts permit legal
counsel. The right of appeal exists in both systems. By law,
defendants and their attorneys are guaranteed access to
government-held evidence. In practice, they often do not see
the evidence against them until they are in court.
The modern court system consists of magistrate courts and the
High Court, whose members sit on a Supreme Court of Appeal when
the need arises. The President appoints the Chief Justice and,
after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission, other
court justices. According to constitutional amendments passed
in November, the President must have parliamentary approval
before removing a judge for incompetence or misbehavior.
Traditional court justices, including justices of the National
Traditional Appeal Court, are appointed directly by the
President. A typical traditional court panel consists of three
traditional authorities and a magistrate judge. Police
officials handle the prosecution, and defendants conduct their
own defense. In April a traditional court sentenced Dedza
District MCP Chairman Mlombwa Phiri to death for shooting a
district police commissioner, whom he was alleged to have
suspected of multiparty leanings. Amnesty International
protested the sentence, noting that traditional court
proceedings lacked the fundamental features of a fair public
trial, such as the defendant's right to counsel. The case was
under appeal at the end of the year.
Through seminars, workshops, and training, some improvements
have taken place in the functioning of the traditional court
system. At year's end, with the suspension of the regional and
national traditional courts and a review of the entire system
under way, many in the legal community, including high court
justices, were predicting that the future of traditional courts
was at the local level, where they would continue to hear cases
involving small claims and customary law.
In 1993 the modern courts became increasingly bold in their
decisions against the Government and the MCP. In one case, the
court awarded, and the Government paid, Machipisa Munthali the
equivalent of over $1 million for wrongful imprisonment. After
completing a 6-year sentence in 1974, Munthali was immediately
redetained without charge, trial, or explanation for an
additional 18 years. Another long-term
detainee-turned-opposition politician, Aleke Banda,
successfully sued the MCP for defamation of character based on
remarks against him which an MCP official made at a referendum
campaign rally. The court awarded $75,000 in damages, which
Banda collected with difficulty from the MCP. In the appeal of
Chakufwa Chihana's sedition case, the Supreme Court granted
both the defense and the prosecution the right to employ
British queen's counsels to make their arguments. The Supreme
Court stopped short of acquitting Chihana, instead reducing his
sentence to 9 months.
The Government has not removed any judicial officials in
response to the judiciary's newfound independence.
No known political prisoners remained at the end of 1993.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Oversight of the police was a significant weak link in the
political transition process. Political liberalization has
inhibited, but not completely ended, the practice of the police
entering houses at will, under special entry authority, to
conduct searches for suspects or incriminating evidence.
During the MYP disarmament operation in December, the army and
police, with Government approval, entered many private homes in
search of hidden MYP members and weapons.
The forced purchase of MCP membership cards stopped. There
were occasional threats of forced population resettlement
during the referendum campaign, primarily to inhibit opposition
activity in MCP strongholds. The MCP did not carry out these
threats, however, and after the referendum, generally shifted
from negative to positive incentives to generate political
support.
Parliament repealed the Decency in Dress Act in November. The
Act had banned slacks or skirts above the knees for women, and
long hair and bell-bottom slacks for men.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of the Press
In the past, two government/MCP-controlled newspapers and one
government radio station spread the Government and party line
on all subjects. An opposition editor and a UDF official were
briefly detained on press-related charges in early 1993. In
March the Government temporarily banned two opposition
newspapers, the UDF News and Alliance for Democracy's (AFORD's)
Malawi Democrat. The High Court later lifted both bans.
The unfettered, aggressive media were an explosive new force.
By the end of 1993, more than 20 independent newspapers were in
circulation. In September the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation,
based on a broadcasting code of conduct worked out between the
Government and the opposition, canceled long-running, regularly
scheduled pro-Banda/MCP programs. Independent journalists
practiced less self-censorship. The independent press
criticized the Government vigorously, and after the disarmament
of the MYP in December, even MBC reporters and producers began
broadcasting news items and press statements critical of the
Government.
In November Parliament changed the sedition laws to include
"intent to incite violence" as a necessary component of
sedition. Parliament did not, however, repeal the law
prohibiting journalists from publishing or communicating
outside of Malawi any information which might tarnish the
country's reputation. The chief public prosecutor must
authorize any prosecution brought under this law.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
A November 1993 amendment to the Constitution provides that "no
person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of
assembly and association," as long as he does not infringe upon
the rights of others, endanger public order or public morality,
impose restrictions on public officers, or act in a manner not
"reasonably justifiable in a democratic society."
During the referendum campaign, police and other government
officials grudgingly granted freedom of assembly. While
opposition groups frequently faced problems in obtaining
permits for rallies, large political meetings were held
although political parties other than MCP were still illegal.
The Government tolerated the so-called pressure groups as
forums for free political association but often harassed their
members.
Following the referendum, Parliament legalized political
parties. Police then granted rally permits readily, although
there were occasional reports of MCP officials encouraging
local officials to change the venue of an opposition rally at
the last minute so that the MCP might use the original location
for its own rally. During the labor strikes that occurred
around the country in September, police did not arrest strikers
for failing to obtain permits. As in the past, individuals and
organizations associated freely in nonpolitical activities.
c. Freedom of Religion
Malawi does not have a state religion. Religious groups may
establish places of worship and train clergy but must register
with the Government. An informal presidential decree that no
new religious groups should be registered served to prevent
legitimate religious groups from establishing a presence in
Malawi. In general, however, restrictions on all religious
practices eased. In September the Government revoked its ban
on Jehovah's Witnesses and certain other religious groups which
refused to join political parties or accept a ruling government
as sovereign.
Religious groups are free to establish and maintain links with
their churches in other countries, and the Government does not
restrict members from traveling abroad for religious purposes.
Malawi's sizable Muslim minority (estimated at 20 percent of
the population) conducts its religion and builds mosques
freely. Foreign Islamic organizations have funded the latter
with no governmental interference.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Freedom of movement both within and outside the country
improved in 1993. President Banda declared a general amnesty
for all exiles in June, and many returned. Denial of passports
on political grounds was no longer common. Legal provisions
restricting the movement of those convicted of political or
criminal offenses continued in force. Employees still had to
request permission from their employers to travel abroad, but
such clearance appeared to be routinely granted. In a few
cases, police delayed the travel of political opposition
leaders at checkpoints between regional boundaries, but it was
not clear whether such actions were taken on individual
initiative or at government direction. Formal emigration was
neither restricted nor encouraged. Malawi does not apply any
particular restrictions of the movement of women or most
minorities (including expatriates) except for Asian residents
and citizens, who while free to travel within the country, must
nominally reside within four urban areas (Lilongwe, Zomba,
Mzuzu, and Blantyre/Limbe). In Lilongwe, a planned capital,
they must live in designated neighborhoods. Asians are also
banned from running any business outside the urban areas,
although the political parties, through the NCC, tentatively
discussed the possibility of lifting this prohibition.
Malawi continued to host Mozambican refugees, the largest
refugee population in Africa. The Mozambique Peace Accord,
signed on October 4, 1992, brought an end to open hostilities
in that country, but fears among refugees were slow to
subside. Because of the devastation wrought by more than 16
years of war and southern Africa's worst drought in a century,
refugees did not return to many areas of Mozambique. While the
Government of Malawi encouraged their return, it made no
attempt to force the refugees to depart before they were ready
and able to do so. The Government and international
organizations estimated that more than 300,000 Mozambican
refugees left Malawi for their homes, with 700,000 remaining.
While this large number of refugees strained Malawi's roads,
health care facilities, and land, fuel, water, and food
resources, the Government continued to cooperate with the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other
relief organizations to sustain the Mozambican refugees.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Freedom to change their government peacefully was the
cornerstone on which Malawians began to build a new political
system. At the beginning of 1993, politics was dominated by
the President for Life and his Malawi Congress Party, the only
legal party. Parliament rubber stamped the President's
decisions, and candidates in all elections were preapproved by
the President. After the national referendum, the opposition
and the ruling party negotiated a transitional arrangement
which gave the former a formal role in monitoring the existing
Government and in crafting and introducing legislative
reforms. In June Parliament repealed the section of the
Constitution which prohibited parties other than the MCP, and
granted Malawi's political exiles general amnesty. The
principal mechanisms of the transition are the NCC and NEC,
which include equal numbers of representatives from each
registered political party. The NCC is a deliberative body in
which the parties are working out the constitutional, legal,
and electoral shape of the new system. The NEC plays a
monitoring role, tracking the progress the Government and
Parliament make in implementing the decisions of the NCC.
Malawi's first multiparty elections for a president and
parliament are to be held on May 17, 1994. As in past
single-party elections and the referendum, suffrage is to be
universal among adult citizens, without regard to gender or
tribal (indigenous) origins. In November Parliament passed
laws related to the elections scheduled for May, including the
lowering of the voting age to 18 years.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
In the past, the Government did not allow either domestic or
international organizations to investigate alleged human rights
abuses. This situation began to change in 1992 when the
Government invited the ICRC to inspect Malawi's prisons. A
two-person delegation from Amnesty International visited Malawi
for 2 weeks in November and met with government officials, the
police, opposition leaders, and others. A few domestic human
rights groups formed in 1993, but at year's end had not
developed methods for monitoring the country's human rights
situation.
The Government continued to refuse to investigate, despite
opposition calls for a commission of inquiry, the 1983 deaths
of three government ministers and a parliamentarian. At the
time of the deaths, the Government claimed the four had died
accidentally in an automobile wreck. For years, however,
widespread rumors alleged that the accident had been staged and
that the men had been shot for political reasons on the orders
of senior government officials. In the fall of 1993, several
independent newspapers conducted and reported investigations
which they claimed produced evidence implicating the Government
in these deaths.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
Women and men above the age of 20 have equal legal status and
are supposed to receive equal pay for equal work. In practice,
however, women do not have opportunities equal to those of
men. Historically, women have been unable to complete even a
primary education and are therefore at a serious disadvantage
in the job market. Women constitute 70 percent of all
full-time farmers. Thirty percent of these women are heads of
household. The Government included in its 1993 development
policy a specific plan of action for women. The plan proposes
that each ministry designate an officer to deal with issues
concerning women and women's affairs. Most ministries have
done so and are trying to allocate funds to support women's
programs in their respective ministries. The Government
reserves 33 percent of the places in secondary school for
girls. In 1993, for the first time, all of these spaces were
filled. However, women may not attend school at any level if
they become pregnant. University women may return to their
studies 6 months after the birth of a child. The Government
cooperated closely with international donors seeking to enhance
educational opportunities for females, especially at the
primary school level.
Both the Government and nongovernmental organizations have
sponsored programs to support better general education for
women and girls. The National Commission on Women disseminates
information on women's rights. Women across the country began
to form groups advocating empowerment of women in various
fields. The "Women's Voice" group, for example, encourages
women to participate in the political process.
Malawi society does not practice systematic violence against
women. However, spousal abuse is common, although it is not
discussed openly by women. Occasionally the press reports
instances of sexual abuse and harassment of female students by
their male teachers. There are no apparent efforts by the
Ministry of Education to address this problem.
Children
The Government does not spend a high percentage of its budget
on children's health and welfare. Despite women's access to
maternal health services and extension programs, infant
mortality remains the 10th highest in the world. Very few
orphanages exist, and the Government is only beginning to
address the necessity of intervening on behalf of children as
the AIDS epidemic destroys traditional extended family and
village care. There is no pattern of societal abuse against
children, though a few small ethnic groups continue to practice
female genital mutilation.
National/Racial/Ethnic/Minorities
Citizens of the northern region occasionally experience
discrimination in employment outside that region. Most
Malawians of African heritage are members of indigenous tribes,
which are not discriminated against by the Government or
society. By law, Asians may not own businesses in agriculture
or transport and strict rules govern where they may own
property.
People with Disabilities
The Government has not mandated accessibility to public
buildings for the disabled, but it does help and support them.
Self-supporting businesses, run by and for the disabled,
operate successfully in Malawi. Special schools and training
centers target individuals with disabilities.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Because most Malawian households derive their income from the
agricultural sector, either directly from what they produce or
through seasonal, informal employment on estates, government
figures indicate that only 473,000 persons--approximately 14
percent of the work force--earn formal wages. Approximately 10
percent of this group--fewer than 50,000 employees--are
organized in trade unions. Most organized workers are
unskilled laborers on large agricultural estates.
Restrictive colonial labor legislation was subsumed largely
intact into Malawian law. In response to continuing bouts of
labor unrest, however, Ministry of Labor officials announced in
September plans to review and modify the legislation.
Malawian workers have the legal right to form and join trade
unions. For government workers, the right is limited to unions
whose membership consists solely of government employees. By
law and in practice, all unions have been required to affiliate
with the Trade Union Congress of Malawi (TUCM). The TUCM,
ostensibly independent of the Government, was until late 1993
highly restricted in its activities. In response to a
prolonged period of sporadic strikes, late in the year a group
of new TUCM leaders formed a "caretaker committee" which they
tasked with the revitalization of the TUCM. At the same time,
the Ministry of Labor announced a policy of decentralized
dialog, negotiation, and collective bargaining in labor matters
which, inter alia, emphasized the right of workers and
employers to organize freely into trade unions and employers'
associations, respectively. At year's end the effectiveness of
these actions was uncertain.
In 1993, Malawi experienced unprecedented labor unrest.
Starting in May, sporadic work stoppages at individual
companies occurred in Blantyre, the country's main commercial
city. In August, September, and October, wildcat
strikes--including a nationwide civil service strike--spread
throughout the country. The unrest was generally nonviolent,
two exceptions being the fatal shooting of a striker at a sugar
plantation and the destruction of a tobacco estate's medical
clinic. Government intervention was limited, and negotiated
resolutions of workers' demands was the norm.
Malawi's official unions played no significant role in either
leading or resolving the labor unrest in 1993. In contrast,
Joint Consultative Committees (JCC)--worker/management councils
established within the last 2 years in numerous private
enterprises and state-owned firms--provided forums for
negotiations and were often successful in defusing tensions.
Ideally, the committees were to consist of elected
representatives of workers and management. Often, however,
worker representation was determined by employer appointment.
The TUCM is a member of the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU), although the ICFTU suspended the TUCM in
December, and the Organization of African Trade Union Unity.
It also belongs to the Southern African Trade Union
Coordination Council (SATUCC). The Government closed SATUCC's
Malawi office in 1992, following the arrest of its chairman,
Chakufwa Chihana, on charges of sedition. In September 1993,
SATUCC received the Government's approval to reopen its Malawi
office and it plans to return in early 1994.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Collective bargaining is protected by law, but its use is
limited by stark labor market realities. Unskilled laborers
outnumber available positions by a ratio of eight to one. By
contrast, skilled workers, because of their scarcity, enjoy a
relatively high demand for their services and, therefore,
higher salaries. The latter have had some success when
negotiating employment terms, either on an individual basis or,
as was the case with the railroad union, collectively.
Antiunion discrimination by employers is prohibited by statute,
but enforcement of the provisions through civil suits does not
occur. Most individual labor disputes, usually in the form of
a worker claiming unfair dismissal, are initially referred to
the Ministry of Labor for resolution. The Ministry typically
attempts to encourage a settlement between the parties and does
not actually adjudicate the merits of the claim.
Malawi has no export processing zones or free trade zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced labor was widely practiced during colonial times.
Although never formally outlawed, it is not practiced except
for prison labor. Sentences which include a component of "hard
labor" are routinely handed down upon conviction for criminal
offenses. Hard labor has, however, generally meant light
gardening or road maintenance and can be waived for medical
considerations.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Malawian law defines persons under the age of 12 to be children
and prohibits their employment. Persons between ages 12 and 14
are eligible to do "light" work in a family business.
Enforcement by labor inspectors is not effective.
In the large agriculture sector, children help out at a young
age both on family farms and on smaller estates, where laborers
are given a quota to meet and entire families work towards
reaching it. Children are rarely employed in industrial jobs,
which are few in number and pay better than does agricultural
work.
There is no law mandating compulsory education of children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Malawi's legislated minimum wage varies by location. Workers
in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu receive a minimum
of $0.70 (Malawian kwacha 3.00) per day; workers in
municipalities and townships are entitled to a minimum wage of
$0.63 (mk 2.70) per day; rural workers are entitled to a
minimum wage of $0.56 (mk 2.40) per day. As most Malawians
earn their livelihood outside the formal wage sector, they are
not affected by the prescribed minimums.
Wages are primarily derived from the Government's prescribed
minimum wage scales and by comparison to civil service wages.
Industrial employees received the highest wages, with most
private commercial firms intentionally setting their wages
higher than those for similarly experienced government
employees. Agricultural workers tend to receive only the
Government's prescribed minimum wage, with some additional
benefits such as access to basic medical treatment and farm
supplies on credit. Minimal Ministry of Labor enforcement of
the decreed wage rates, and agricultural labor practices in
which harvesting quotas are sometimes met by entire families
rather than by a single worker have reduced some actual
agricultural wages below the mandated minimum.
In 1993 high inflation rates and shortages in basic consumer
goods made the minimum wage insufficient for the provision of
basic needs. In practice, even those workers who received a
wage tended to supplement their incomes through farming
activities carried out through the extended family network.
Effective September 1, legal minimum wages were increased by
approximately 13 percent. The estimated rate of inflation in
1993 was approximately 23 percent.
The standard legal workweek in Malawi is 48 hours with 1 day of
rest, usually Sunday. Workers obliged to work on Sundays and
official holidays must be paid overtime.
Occupational safety standards are set by law. Their
enforcement by Ministry of Labor inspectors is erratic, and
workers--particularly those in industrial jobs--often work
without basic safety clothing and equipment.
[end of document]
Return
to 1993 Human Rights Practices report home page.
Return to DOSFAN
home page.
This is an official U.S. Government source
for information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links
does not imply endorsement of contents.