Some of them on Monday morning invaded the district commissioner’s office in Blantyre in the quest to force government to give them their dues.

However, only a few of them turned up, a development Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) president, Willie Malimba, attributed to harsh weather condition.

“You know it has been raining since yesterday and this has affected the teachers’ up. But the sit in is still going on. In other areas like Lilongwe and Dedza, the sit in has started well,” said Malimba.

Malimba added that they cannot suspend the sit in “because we have been discussing with government for so long, removing somebody from the pay roll in December is very dangerous.

“December salary covers school fees, fertilizers, Christmas and new year celebrations,” lamented Malimba.

He further said “We were assured that the salaries would be paid latest by last Friday but to no avail.”

The ministry of education claims the teachers were removed on pay roll apparently because they did not submit their National Identity Cards’ details.

The Ministry of Education Principal Secretary, Justin Saidi, has been calling for suspension of the sit-in, saying government would pay the teachers through pay points upon production of their National IDs.

About 5, 000 teachers and other civil servants have been affected.