Human rights advocate Edward Kambanje has urged Malawians to approach public debate surrounding the Reserve Bank of Malawi’s settlement with former Deputy Governor Henry Mathanga through the lens of the rule of law rather than politics.
Kambanje pointed to the Industrial Relations Court judgment in Clemence Chinkono v Reserve Bank of Malawi (IRC No. 803 of 2022), delivered on 14 November 2025, which ruled that the Reserve Bank’s unilateral downward revision of employees’ salaries in December 2020 was unlawful. The court found that the salary cuts violated provisions of the Employment Act that protect employees from arbitrary reductions in earned remuneration.
He said the salary reductions affected several senior Reserve Bank officials and not Mathanga alone, arguing that portraying the settlement as an isolated case creates a misleading public impression.
Kambanje stressed that respecting court decisions promotes institutional integrity and upholds the constitutional guarantee of fair labour practices.
