In a replica of last year’s ceremony, the Medical Aid Society of Malawi recognized and rewarded five long serving employees. The colourful ceremony took place at MASM offices and for the first time in full view of the board of directors on Friday the 26th of February, 2010. The Guest of honour was the MASM Board Chairperson Hodges Masi. The ceremony had three categories and the first comprised those who had served for the past 10 years. In this category Angellina Hara, Doreen Maphwanya and Ernest Mangani were the awardees.

They each received a cheque worth K75, 000 and a MASM branded wall clock with an inscription of their name inside as a souvenir. In the second category, Nathan Chasowa and Dr Ulemu Katunga who have each been with the Society for 15 years were the proud recipients of K100,000 worth of goods and a MASM branded wall clock with a name inscription inside. Nathan Chasowa the current Systems Administrator went away with a flat screen and a deep freezer while Dr Katunga became a proud owner of an upright fridge. ``15 years is a short period from other angles but from a different angle it is a very long period. I never thought I will stay this long but I have. I therefore urge the young members of staff

to persevere as the best is yet to come,`` commented Dr Katunga when by public demand he was asked to say something on his 15 years of service. He is currently the MASM Financial Controller and also the Company Secretary. Earlier on the MASM CEO Sydney Chikoti a former recipient of 10 years of service himself in 2008, in an impromptu short speech said those who have stuck with MASM have done so because of job satisfaction and also because the Society has taken care of them adequately. He further assured staff members that MASM is a good employer as testified by the 5 long serving employees.

After was said and done, a third category at the ceremony comprised those who had performed best in the year 2009 and were chosen partly by popular vote. These were from two MASM subsidiaries and MASM proper. Michael Black emerged as the Michiru Pharmacies employee of the year while Martha Sankhulani in absenture was chosen as the 2009 MASM-Medi Clinics employee of the year. The former is based in Blantyre while the latter is a nurse at MASMMedi Clinic Lilongwe. They each walked away with MASM branded wall clocks and a cheque worth K10,000. The hype of the occasion was when Joseph Michael, an Office Assistant was crowned MASM employee of the year. Joseph Michael walked away with a K30, 000 cheque and a MASM branded wall clock. He works at the MASM Head Office in Blantyre and is somebody you can trust at a glance.