Members of the Reformed Timber Millers Union (RTMU) on Thursday conducted peaceful protests in Viphya Plantation in Chikangawa, Mzimba district, accusing government of favouring foreign concessionaires over locals in the timber processing business in Viphya Plantation in Mzimba and Nkhata Bay districts.

Asking government to allocate them some hectares of land to sew timber since July, the union met Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Bintony Kutsaira, a development that RTMU president Paul Nthambazale claims the meetings have yielded nothing, therefore resolving to protests.

Citing the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act of 2017 Nthambazale, said the favoritism is a violation of the Act, which gives 60 percent to indigenous black Malawians when it comes to the procurement of goods and services by government.

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA), in its Act, states that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are to benefit from public procurement. However the SMEs, through Chamber for Small and Medium Business Association (CSMBA) have asked PPDA to clarify on preferences that small and medium enterprises.