BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The welfare of employees, who survived the chop after FDH Holdings Limited merged with Malawi Savings Bank (MSB), has drastically dwindled with some claiming that the work does not match monthly pay, Maravi Post has leant.
FDH bought shares from MSB and a massive retrenchment followed, sacking almost 400 employees mainly from MSB.
The survivors thought that the development would lead to improvement of their welfare but the opposite is happening, a snap survey by Maravi Post can reveal.
“After the bank sacked our colleagues we expected the bank to revise our condition of services. As of now I am doing a work which was previously done by five people but with the same salary and benefits,” said one of the employees at Blantyre MSB Branch.
The sentiments were supported by another FDH worker who said the boss [Thom Mpinganjira] is too stingy to such an extent he wants more returns at the expense of the workers.
“You see, our boss [Mpinganjira] seems to be too penny-pinching and he has even not time to consider our welfare as priority. We are working round the clock but there is no change in terms of salary and any other benefits since our friends faced the chop. It’s a sad situation!” she said.
This reporter also visited the Blantyre MSB branch premises where it was discovered that DSTV which was previously used before FDH took over ownership was replaced by ZUKU, a confirmation that the boss is indeed on economizing course.
Some employees that spoke to this reporter expressed bitterness in the way FDH boss treat them.
“When we were with MSB, some of us were the victims of nepotism the Lomwe people controlled many senior positions. Now we are the victims of religion differences as the boss favours Seventh Day Adventist church members. Even during retrenchment, SDA members were spared not because of hardworking but church played a role,” lamented the employee.
Top bosses could not pick the phones when contacted.
The firing of some FDH Financial Holdings Limited MSB employees came following the integration of FDH Bank and Malawi Savings Bank –MSB in 2015.
Government sold the Bank –MSB- in a controversial deal arguing the bank was not making profits.
Meanwhile, another controversy has resurfaced as FDH is now claiming the bank was overvalued hence a need for the government to refund them k1.1 billion, a demand which economic experts have trashed.
