UDF News Staff Rush to Labour Office

AEP/Richard Chirombo
It never rains but pours for the United Democratic Front (UDF).
Straight from a disastrous performance in the May 19 parliamentary and presidential elections, the party now has to face up to another depressing reality: former UDF News staff have taken the party to the labour office over unsettled dues.
UDF News is the party's official publication but has, however, been missing on the country's streets since 2005- when president Bingu wa Mutharika dumped the party to form the Democratic Progressive Party.
This forced the party to deploy some staff members to the (party) secretariat.
One of the affected staff revealed that they have gone to Blantyre Labour Office where, among other things, they are asking government to help them recover their benefits, which date as far back as 1999 for some of them.
The action by former UDF staff members comes fast on the heels of reports that the party could not benefit from parliamentary financial subvention, though party lawyer Fahad Assan has argued otherwise.
UDF officials asked for more time when contacted, saying the paper did not fall directly under the party's National Executive Committee as it was sometimes bankrolled by party sympathizers and chairperson, former President Bakili Muluzi.
Muluzi has hinted he wanted to retire from active politics, a decision said to have influenced the decision to fire staff members as Muluzi has been the party's sole financier.
The party now faces financial uncertainty, prompting political commentators to comment that its fast diminishing stout was cause for worry as it would mean a key player in democracy approaching collapse.