When teachers protested last month over salary increment, they were first hacked by thugs and government transferred them the following day. This week, the government has also swiftly moved protesting medical workers. Human rights activists now fear that these actions show the government is subtly silencing voices of discontent among workers in the public service

By Isaac Salima:

Thou shalt not protest! Or you get transferred!

This seems to be a new law which the government has unofficially introduced to crack down on voices of protest among public workers, according to human rights activists.

They say such actions are meant to drill fear in the general workforce so they do not speak out on the concerns they may have.

“We condemn the government in strongest terms for these unethical transfers because they are aimed at silencing public officers from raising concerns about their working conditions,” said Gift Trapence, chairperson of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition.

Over the past three weeks, the government, through its agency, the Local Government Service Commission, has wielded its might against teachers and medical workers who have staged protests to express discontent over various issues.

Last month, a group of teachers organised a demonstration in Lilongwe to challenge the 20 percent salary hike the government has effected. The workers said with the rising cost of living, 20 percent increment was insufficient.

Abandoned by the mother unions — the Civil Servants Trade Union and Teachers Union of Malawi — the group sought, and was granted, due permission from the Lilongwe District Council to stage the protest.

Just as the civil servants were about to start their march, panga-wielding thugs who had been hanging around brutally crushed the demonstration, hacking those participating in it.

The following day, the Local Government Service Commission announced immediate transfer of 13 teachers that had led the demonstration, “claiming exigencies of service”.

One of the affected teachers told us this week that only teachers that had been involved in organisation of the protest were transferred.

“We know that the transfer is because of the demos that we organised. All the names of the teachers who have been transferred are those that were involved in the demonstrations.

“Mind you, we were not only teachers who were against this. We had representatives from agriculture, health and others so why only teachers?” one of the affected teachers said.

This week, a group of nurses has suffered the same fate.

They have been challenging how the leadership of Nurses and Midwives Council of Malawi (Nomn) has been conducting its services and questioning the constitutionality of the conference with the council held in November last year.

In the last straw to push for t