The Zambia Must Prosper Party (ZMP) has raised concerns over the recent queues of citizens waiting to buy a bag of mealie meal produced by the Zambia National Service (ZNS). The ZMP has described this practice as unacceptable and a clear indication of the UPND government’s failure to deliver on its promises to Zambians.
In a statement released by the party’s spokesperson, Trymore Mwenda, he expressed disappointment at the high cost of the ZNS produced mealie meal despite the long queues of citizens waiting to purchase it. “The UPND government must know that even the ZNS produced mealie meal is still very expensive, despite Zambians queuing up for it,” Mwenda said. “Offloading 1600 bags of the ZNS mealie meal per day on the market pegged at K150 and K120 for breakfast and roller meal respectively will not do much because this is not what the UPND promised Zambians.”
Mwenda went on to describe the scenes in Lusaka’s Kaunda square on Friday last week, where residents queued up for ZNS mealie meal, as unsustainable and a drop in the ocean. He called on the UPND government to address the factors that have triggered the steep rise in mealie meal prices if a long-term solution is to be found. “The scenes in Lusaka’s Kaunda square are unacceptable and do not reflect the level of progress Zambia has made since the return of multi-party politics more than 30 years ago,” Mwenda said.
Despite the concerns raised by the ZMP, the cost of maize meal in Zambia is expected to go down in the coming weeks following the government’s decision to release maize from its strategic grain reserves to millers. Millers are expected to receive about 250,000 metric tonnes from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to enable them to produce mealie meal in bulk and flood the local market so that consumers can purchase the commodity at affordable prices.
“The millers have agreed to price the commodity at between K160 (US$8.4) and K170 (US$8.9) per 25-kilogram bag from K300 (US$15.7) in a forward step to ensure that the commodity is sold at affordable prices for Zambian citizens,” said Kelvin Hambwezya, the Chairperson of the FRA Board.
However, some milling companies have been hesitant to quickly buy maize from the FRA and have claimed that there is a shortage of grain in the country. In response, Hambwezya thanked the millers for their cooperation and expressed hope that the price of mealie meal would continue to decrease with further interactions. “FRA is aware of the fluctuating mealie meal prices in the country, and the agency has responded with interventions aimed at normalizing the situation,” Hambwezya said. “FRA was created to make sure that when there is a crisis or a disaster like we seem to have, FRA is mandated to offload maize or rice or whatever commodity is required to help mitigate the problem,” he added.
So far, the millers have paid for 75,000 metric tonnes of maize, and have been instructed to collect it from the nearest FRA depots. The FRA has also sold maize to 33 districts under the rural vulnerable communities to ensure household food security. Additionally, the agency has authorized the release of 50,000 metric tonnes of maize to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit for relief purposes for households affected by floods.
The ZMP has called on the UPND government to address the factors that have led to the steep rise in mealie meal
YOU ARE PARTY WAITING TO FORM GOVERNMENT. TELL US WHAT YOURE PROMISING ZAMBIANS. WHY FOCUS ON WHAT UPND PROMISED? THIS IS THE TIME TO SAY WHAT YOU WILL DO DIFFERENT SO WE CAN VOTE FOR YOU. BUT AS USUAL YOU HAVE NO IDEA. SO KEEP YOUR MOUTHS SHUT. ATI THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU PROMISED, ARE YOU A MEMBER OF UPND?
Price controls are counter-productive and have never worked anywhere. Let ZNS compete with private millers!
The woman in uniform on the right, eh size iyo. Nice born structure . Nyama nyama for nyefu nyefu
Man United or Real Madrid wins a game by 1-0.
Then someone complains that they promised to win the game by 4-0
Please stop being petty.
Nothing to say when BMW delivers, KZ tantalised
We understand most of you upnd diasporans are a gay. Don’t use my name in your posts
I thought tantameni had ended.
@William+ Banda, Please be a little civil in your language you cannot tell Zambians to shut up. They need to talk just like your leader Hakainde spoke when he was in opposition. Let people express their feelings just like you are doing minus your “Shup UP”. Your UPND is in Govt. they are not gods they must be criticised for the childish behaviour exhibited this far.
They complained of suppression and now they are in power they want to suppress. Their GS Imenda has even gone further by telling Edgar Lungu to stop appearing in public.
So for how long is this primitive ZCBC and NIEC rebound behavior gonna last? Will Millers sit aside and watch this 1980s’ lining up for commodities continue?
Anyways mulungu adzawerudza.
Watch the next direction this action will lead to.
It’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Seat belts please.
If all thieves like Kaizar Zulu, HH, fatty GBF and Kelvin Bwalya could bring back all the money they stole to the state. Then poverty in Zambia will go down. What do they do with all stollen millions. Instead the go on forming political parties so that they can steal more money. Zambia is the only country where thieves could become leaders.
@Phiri, If you have proof that HH stole money from the state, why don’t you report him to the A.C.C or Police? You are a coward because you hide on social media to defame people. Come out in the open and claim this in the open and you will be sued for millions of kwacha. While your father was spending time drinking Kachasu, others were busy investing their money to buy companies that were sold by the MMD government