LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Minister of Labour and Manpower Development, Agnes NyaLonje on Monday, January 29, 2024, disclosed the much-awaited Workers’ Compensation Fund is at an advanced stage of establishment.

NyaLonje revealed that the Workers’ Compensation Fund had delayed to rollout because of a lack of political will by the previous administrations.

The Minister spoke after officially opening an orientation workshop for the first cohort of the Trustees of the Board of the Workers’ Compensation Fund in the capital Lilongwe.

The European Union (EU) facilitated technical and financial support to the workshop through its Zantchito Skills for Jobs Programme.

“The reason this workshop has become necessary is that 24 years after the Workers’ Compensation Act was enacted, the Workers’ Compensation Fund has still not been established. Over the years, various reasons have been advanced to explain this failure to establish the Fund.

“However, when all is said and done, the 24 years of waiting for this Fund signify a lack of political will. However, under the leadership of His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, the Tonse Alliance Government is committed to establishing the Fund,” she said.

NyaLonje stated that Malawi is now the only country in the SADC region that is yet to set up an employment injury fund, a development she said advantages workers.

She therefore added that the delay in setting up the fund has increased the individual-employer liability system whereby each employer individually bears the burden of paying compensation in the form of a lump sum.

Among others, the Workers’ Compensation Fund is designed to address the foregoing challenges of individual-employer liability.

The Fund would require monthly contributions from employers to cover the cost of claims.

This will allow for the pooling of risks thereby moderating the impact of the risks on individual employers.

The Fund would make periodical payments to the injured for life in the case of permanent incapacity.

Employees would be assured of compensation even after the closure or winding up of a business as long as the employer had been contributing to the Fund.