Following the government’s failure to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a government-to-government agreement with Israel to facilitate labour exports, the Youth and Society (YAS) has intervened on the matter.
Israel had offered Malawi up to 100 000 jobs across various sectors with the first 10 000 workers expected within a month from February this year.
However, Malawi has failed to send any workers.
The Israel labour export deal, which was being facilitated by agents, was suspended until the bilateral labour agreement was signed.
The development has put a team of youths who were to be dispatched to Israel before the deal was suspended in an awkward position.
Government is yet to issue an official statement on the move with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe saying he had no information on the failure to sign an MOU.
“I am investigating to get more information,” Kabaghe to The Nation Newspaper
This comes after Finance Minister Chithyola Banda said the Israel delegation would be in Malawi during Easter for the signing of the MoU.
Meanwhile, YAS has said it is engaging government officials and representatives of the youth so that government should expedite the signing of the MoU.
Last month, a group of concerned applicants for the Israel jobs presented a petition to the Ministry of Labour at Capital Hill in Lilongwe, citing delays in finalising the agreement, among other concerns.
The petitioners said they felt that the Malawi Government was delaying to seal the government to government arrangement that could bring sanity to the recruitment process.
Reads the petition in part: “We have documents like medical reports which are bound to expire soon. And we have observed that there is no information regarding this labour export deal. We hope you will understand our concerns and provide us with answers as soon as possible.”
