Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Henry Mussa, said this in reaction to what Member of Parliament for Salima North West, Jessie Kabwila, alleged about one of the petroleum companies, Petroda.
Kabwila alleged that the company is currently replacing Malawian workers with foreign nationals who in turn rely on the same Malawians for skills and expertise transfer.
Responding on behalf of Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development, Mussa said, in January, government approved national employment and labour policy to place employment at the heart of the country’s development agenda.


Among others, the policy recognises that, despite benefitting from other labour markets, Malawi has faced an influx of immigrants, some of whom are doing jobs that can best be done by Malawians.
According to Mussa, the Ministry of Labour has just completed a skills survey, which will give a picture of the level of competence of foreigners in the country’s labour market.
“Through the ongoing reforms, joint efforts with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security are under way. We will soon start rigorous screening of expatriates and only those areas where our country does not have adequate skills or expertise will be allowed to employ expatriates as stipulated in the Employment of Expatriates and Employment Permits Act,” Mussa said.




On Kabwila’s claims, Mussa said Ministry of Labour conducted investigation but it has not collected evidence on the abuses at Petroda as alleged.
He encouraged all Malawians with information or are victims of labour-related abuses to report such issues to government for appropriate action.