By Chikondi Kasichi
Lecturers at St Luke’s College of Nursing under Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire on Thursday started strike over unpaid allowances.
According to one of the lecturers who opted for anonymity, the teaching staff is demanding teaching and top up allowances which they have not received for over a year.
The sit-in has come after the management failed to fulfill promises to have the lecturers given their allowances by March this year.
“We were promised to receive our allowance arrears by March but now they are giving us excuses. The agreement was made during the meeting with the board, legal advisors from the diocese and college management,” said the lecturer.
The striking staff told our reporter that they consulted the management through letters but were still giving the same excuses.
“We exhausted everything last two weeks where we gave them 7 days failing which we will stage this strike,” he added.
Malawi24 tried several times to get hold of college authorities but numbers were out of reach.
Information reaching this publication indicates that management from the diocese used millions of Kwachas from the college to fund a trip where they went to Zimbabwe with college management.
Mismanagement of funds at the college by authorities from Anglican diocese of Upper Shire is one of the concerns by the diocesan petitioners who have been demanding resignation of the diocesan bishop Brighton Malasa.
Meanwhile, the striking teaching staff have threatened to continue with the strike until they get their allowances.
