BRIAN LIGOMEKA, Blantyre | Friday
MALAWI’S multi-million dollar tobacco industry finally admitted this week that it uses illegal cheap child labour on the country’s massive plantations.
Tobacco Association of Malawi (TAMA) vice president Fredgstone Thangwi publicly conceded that the industry, which accounts for almost 90% of Malawi’s formal employment in the agriculture sector, used some child labour.
The child workers were, he said, paid much less than adults but were expected to work just as hard.
The admission follows shortly after the country’s Tea Exporters Association took out large newspaper adverts denying that child labour was used on tobacco plantations or in tobacco processing plants.
Thangwi stressed that TAMA did not condone the use of child labourers, and said blanket denials by tobacco growers were misleading.
“There are employers who strongly deny the use of child labour. Such denials are unfortunate because child labour exists and is threatening the future of the entire tobacco industry. It would be a disaster if international labour authorities were to come out here to inspect us,” said Thangwi.
The international Labour Organisation (ILO) has previously threatened to lobby for international trade sanctions against Malawi unless the country urgently clamps down on child labour and other labour abuses.
“There is no time for theoretical discussions. [We] need to execute practical which prove that although tobacco’s foreign earnings are declining, Malawi is determined to tackle this problem to save its most important industry from international sanctions and the resulting economic chaos,” said Thangwi.
Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) president John Mhango welcomed Thangwi’s “confession” as a constructive first step to wiping out the abuse.
“It’s commendable that TAMA has admitted the problem. What we need now are practical measures, [because] it would be useless for mere lip service basis without any bold practical steps,” he said.
Tobacco remains Malawi’s primary foreign exchange earner, accounting for 70% of the country’s agricultural exports and almost 85% of agriculture-based foreign exchange earnings. – African Eye News Service