Admarc intends to retrench employees

By Antony Isaiah Jr

The Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation [ADMARC] has announced its intention to retrench all its employees in line with restructuring process that it is undertaking.

Government, through Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe, shut down Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), citing high levels of corruption, theft and professional negligence at the State-owned grain trader.

Lowe sent all members of staff for the corporation on paid leave and suspended all its activities except social services.

Police were deployed to all Admarc offices to ensure that no employee goes near the corporation’s premises, saying doing that will be considered trespassing. A visibly angry Lowe said the government is not happy with Admarc’s failure to tick and yet continues to drain government resources.

In reaction to this, Admarc has made clear its intention to restructure its operation and according to leaked document, signed by the Chairperson of the board, Alexander Kusamba Dzonzi addressed to Workers Union Secretary, Memory Kanyenda the exercise will be carried out in a phased manner with all guidelines for the retrenchment strictly followed.

“Over the years, ADMARC Limited has been poorly performing such that it has accumulated debts that are now choking its operations. The company now has more liabilities than asserts. The company has a huge wage bill that is not supported by the company’s revenue base and business model such that has been the stakeholders paying for the employees’ salaries and other statutory obligations for years,” reads part of the statement.