Mwamba condemns Ministry of Agriculture’s inconsistent statements regarding the mealie-meal shortages

Patriotic Front Presidential Candidate, Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba, has condemned the Ministry of Agriculture’s inconsistent statements regarding the mealie-meal shortages currently affecting Zambia. In a statement issued on Thursday, April 6th, Mwamba stated that Zambia had established mechanisms and instruments to determine the accurate availability of crops in the country, including the National Food Balance Sheet and the annual Crop Forecast Survey. Mwamba called on the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Mutolo Phiri, to be truthful about the country’s food security to help stakeholders and the citizenry at large. Additionally, Mwamba criticized the government’s decision to import finished products (mealie meal), as it was threatening jobs at milling plants.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Unity and Trust Society-CUTS- International has advised the government to understand the cause of the mealie meal shortage in the country before starting to import the commodity for onward export. CUTS Country Manager, Angela Mulenga, said that establishing these facts would enable the country to boost its production, earn more income, and create more opportunities for farmers. Mulenga welcomed the government’s decision to allow millers to import mealie meal, which can then be exported to other countries, but also urged the government to establish whether the mealie meal to be imported is genetically modified or not.

In another development, Copperbelt Minister Hon Elisha Matambo has just received trucks of Zambia National Service (ZNS) Mealie Meal for distribution in the Copperbelt region. Matambo encouraged Copperbelt residents not to panic, as the government had released enough maize to millers on the Copperbelt, with additional mealie meal from ZNS. The minister assured residents that the mealie meal problem would soon be solved as ZNS had started offloading its mealie meal in the region. Matambo thanked Republican President Hakainde Hichilema and the New Dawn government for attending to the mealie meal crisis, which was becoming unbearable for Copperbelt residents.

And calls have been made for the Zambian government to ban the export of maize and mealie meal in a bid to stabilize prices and ensure the staple food remains accessible to ordinary citizens. The statement issued by SPUKI MULEMWA expressed concern over the current unaffordable and inaccessible prices of mealie meal, despite efforts by the government to stabilize prices.

Maize and mealie meal exports have been identified as one of the major causes of the rising prices of the staple food, and as such, the statement urged the government to ban these exports. Security agencies were also called upon to intensify patrols and seal all points used by smugglers to curb the smuggling of maize and mealie meal.

The statement further called on the government to ensure that mealie meal remains affordable and accessible to every Zambian in all parts of the country, and to constantly monitor the maize supply chain. The aim is to ensure that the prices of the staple food remain within reach of ordinary citizens.

The rising prices and shortage of mealie meal were also highlighted in the statement, with a call for the government to take action to address the situation. This would prevent detractors from using the situation to gain cheap political mileage.