President Edgar Lungu has stressed that the days of millers depending on cheap maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) are long gone.

President Lungu says the FRA is only meant to store strategic reserves, taking into consideration that it is the primary purpose why the agency was established.

The President has also encouraged millers to buy maize from farmers and has appealed to those that are not able to conduct maize buying on their own to instead sub-contract grain traders to procure the commodity on their behalf.

And the Head of State says the developments taking place in the milling industry are a clear indication that the private sector is embracing the government’s policies of promoting private sector development and value addition.

He said this yesterday when he officially opened the African Milling New Maize Plant situated along Buyantanshi road in Lusaka.

And the President noted that the expansion project by African Milling is expected to increase milling capacity to 506 metric tonnes of maize per day.

He said with this production capacity, the plant is supposed to run at full capacity, hence the need to address load shedding and ensure adequate maize meal supply which he said will cushion the escalating mealie meal prices.

The President mentioned that the government has been making frantic efforts to ensure that maize production is improved in the current farming season.

President Lungu explained that he is confident that the creation of the maize market through the expansion of the African Milling as well as other developments in the milling industry will propel farmers to grow maize, and service the local market, as well as export the surplus to the region.

And the Head of State has further urged all millers to emulate African Milling which is not only focusing on milling but also supplying inputs to farmers.

He, however, said he is aware of the players in the market who are hoarding maize under the pretext that they will realize exorbitant prices around January and February next year.

The President indicated that such practices create artificial shortages resulting in high mealie meal prices, and has since advised the perpetrators to desist from doing so as the strategy is prone to fail.

President Lungu said the government is in constant touch with farmers, millers and grain traders through the stocks monitoring committee under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, Chairman for African Milling, Zaeed Patel said the expansion of the milling plant is testimony of the continued support and commitment by African Milling to ensure food security in the country.

He noted that the past few months have been critical and challenging in some parts of the country hence the need for government to work together with other stakeholders in ensuring food security.

And Minister of Agriculture Michael Katambo, said the developments taking place in the milling industry is an indication that farmers should position themselves for increased demand of agriculture produce by millers.

Mr Katambo noted that government through his ministry will continue to facilitate a conducive environment which will include allowing maize exports after satisfying the local requirements.

Lusaka Minister Bowman Lusambo indicated that government is working hard to ensure that the living standards of people in all parts of the country are improved upon.

He noted that the country has continued witnessing such investments in food processing companies especially milling and other sectors due to the good leadership of President Lungu.

President Lungu also said that he did not subscribe to calls by some Patriotic Front-PF members for Northern Province PF chairperson Chungu Bwalya to resign, but however, said that the matter of Mr. Bwalya will be tabled before the Central Committee meeting to chart the way forward.

Some PF members are demanding the resignation of Mr. Bwalya following the party’s failure to win a council by-election in Lupososhi, Northern Province.

On the other hand, President Lungu said that the PF’s performance in the recent council by-elections throughout the country is a litmus test for the party ahead of future elections, adding that  UPND members  that were celebrating in one of the towns in Southern Province after winning a council election in Northern Province are at liberty to do so.

And President Edgar Lungu has described as primitive those harassing Members of Parliament that have supported the restoration of the Constitution amendment bill to the order paper in Parliament.

The head of state said that the harassment is unwarranted and does not conform to the tenets of democracy.

President Lungu has reminded political stakeholders that nobody will assume power in Zambia using violence, adding that the world is now so civilized and those seeking to take over leadership should do so without killing anyone.

President Lungu said his political rivals should wait for the 2021 General elections as Zambia is a democratic state instead of engaging in violence.

The President was speaking in an interview with journalists in Lusaka today after his routine jogging session in Lusaka’s State Lodge Area.

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has described as heartbreaking, the latest report which has exposed the Mukula smuggling cartel.

Mr Hichilema said the Mukula smuggling scandal report released by the Washington DC based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), implicating President Edgar Lungu, his daughter Tasila, Justice Minister Given Lubinda, and his Lands counterpart Jean Kapata, says everything that people need to know about the sustained push by the government to sell ZAFFICO.

Mr Hichilema said the ZAFFICO sale issue was always about smuggling Mukula and the mineral deposits under ZAFFICO land and that now the scam has been exposed by experts.

“What we have been warning people about in the past, has today been revealed in detail and brought to the fore,” Mr Hichilema said

“What we read in this report is exactly what we already knew about this Mukula smuggling scam, but the testimonies from the government officials, smugglers and their Chinese handlers contained in the circulating video are staggering and heartbreaking accounts of recklessness and criminal impunity by people who have been entrusted to govern our country.”

He added, “Zambians; wake up now and see this regime for what it truly is, a Government of thieves. It’s a syndicate of institutionalized criminals hellbent on stripping national resources to the core. This needs to stop forthwith,” Mr Hichilema said.

A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) dubbed Mukula Cartel has exposed how associates connected to President Lungu, including his daughter Tasila, onetime resident of the United States of America, are reportedly involved in the plunder of valuable, increasingly scarce, mukula rosewood trees; and hence the destruction of Zambia’s vulnerable forests.

The investigation shows that despite public pledges to end the illegal mukula trade, several politicians are repeatedly named as key actors in an influential timber trafficking network that bypasses existing national bans on mukula harvest and export.

The report raises serious concern about implementation of the recent international protection granted to the threatened mukula tree by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Concerned by a rapid decline of rosewood trees commonly called Mukula in central and southern Africa, the 183 CITES-member governments agreed at the 18th Conference of the Parties to include the species on Appendix II in order to regulate its international trade and protect it from extinction.

The binding international measure took effect on November 26th, 2019.

Meanwhile, EIA undercover investigators documented how the state-owned company Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation Limited (ZAFFICO) is secretly used by well-connected Zambian and Chinese business operatives as a cover to export thousands of freshly cut mukula logs. This illegal trade flourishes in spite of bans on the harvest, transport, and export of mukula.

According to EIA’s findings, senior officials including the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Jean Kapata, help traffickers benefit from the ZAFFICO scheme.

Investigators also found that the illicit timber networks – described by one trafficker as a “cartel” – are reportedly connected to President Lungu and include his daughter Tasila, Senior Chief Nkula Kafula Musungu II, and Justice Minister Given Lubinda.

According to revelations made to EIA, the high-level corruption takes many forms – including, for example, US$40,000 worth of outfits allegedly “donated” by a powerful Chinese trafficker to the Zambian president for his re-election campaign.

Sources also highlighted how special permits to export mukula logs have been commonly traded in exchange for votes. A trafficker further explained to EIA investigators that he manages his clandestine operations in “joint venture” with the ruling party PF’s central committee.

EIA estimates that over 50 40-foot containers of mukula logs have been illegally exported each month from June 2017 to May 2019; their transit and export allowed as a result of an estimated total of $7.5 million in bribes and informal fees paid annually, as explained by traffickers.

The money lost to the illegal mukula trade could have been spent on public services that benefit the lives of Zambians; instead the loss of these trees threatens the livelihoods of local communities.

Lisa Handy, Director of Forest Campaigns at EIA-US, said: “If not dismantled, the mukula cartel has the power to derail the international protection granted to these rare African trees. This will result in a continued assault against fragile forests and rural communities.”

The mukula cartel’s operations are driven by international demand almost exclusively from China. Handy adds: “China has a unique opportunity to stop rosewood trafficking networks and to protect the world’s threatened forests by prohibiting import of illegal timber.”

EIA recommends that Zambia suspends the trade of mukula using a zero-export quota until illicit trafficking networks are dismantled, and the requisite for trading under CITES – including Non-Detriment Finding (NDF) and Legal Acquisition Finding (LAF) – are met and shared publicly. It is essential that Zambia complies with the new CITES rules regarding the mukula trade, or the tree will simply cease to exist.

PF secretary general Davies has given Northern Province Minister Lazarus Chungu a 24-hour ultimatum in which to show cause why he should continue as party’s Provincial Chair after losing a ward by-election in Lupososhi constituency.

In the December 5 by-elections, the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) snatched the Ilambo ward seat in Lupososhi Constituency, which is a PF stronghold and coincidentally, Chungu is area member of parliament.

But this loss angered the ruling party and its chief executive officer, Mwila who announced at his briefing yesterday morning that the party had asked Chungu to either resign by himself or be fired from his position at the party.

“Although the opposition scooped the Ilambo in ward-Lupososhi, they did not win it because of their appeal or their efforts, but we lost it because of the complacency of our structures in this area, ” Mr. Mwila said.

“Lupososhi Constituency, in general, is very significant to the Patriotic Front because it is the first-ever constituency to elect a PF member of parliament in 2001. Added to this, it is a constituency that has the current Provincial Minister and interim Provincial PF Chairperson as its Member of Parliament.”

“How does a sitting Provincial Minister and interim Provincial chairman lose in his own house,” Mr Mwila wondered.

“There must be accountability for this glitch in our performance which has been generally exceptional. This is unacceptable and something must be done,” Mwila said.

“Ilambo ward will coming back to PF where it rightfully belongs, because of the PF development agenda under the leadership of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. But I want to say that as chief executive officer of the party, I have taken the issue to talk to the Provincial Chairman who is also member of parliament and Provincial Minister to make a decision whether he should keep the position of Provincial Minister or not. Failure to decide within 24 hours, a decision will be made by the secretariat. I hope you’ve understood what I mean.”

Asked what the party would do should Chungu refuse to step down, Mwila said the party secretariat would remove him forcefully.

“I did indicate to him to make a decision to step aside and I am waiting for him to make a decision. If he doesn’t, a decision will be made by the secretariat. If he cannot make a decision within 24 hours, on Monday I will be in Luwingu, so I will announce the decision in Luwingu, [which is] better,” he responded.

Mwila, however, commended his party for participating in violence-free by-elections.

“After yesterday’s by-elections, there is a pattern that is now more evident for everyone to see than ever before. There is a clear trend that distinguishes elections in our strongholds from those in opposition areas. Elections conducted in PF Strongholds are peaceful and without violence, while those held in opposition strangleholds are marred with violence and bloodshed. We wish to commend all stakeholders for conducting peaceful elections in the respective areas and we appeal to the opposition to watch and learn the way of peace from us,” Mwila said.

Meanwhile, Mwila called on the UPND to respect the country’s culture and the consensus of Zambian people on homosexuality.

“The UPND must not only learn peaceful ways as we have demonstrated in our strongholds, they must also learn to respect the consensus of Zambian people on homosexuality. The agenda of the UPND and its leader sponsored by foreign agents to legalize the homosexuality in Zambia goes against our cultural and traditional heritage as well as our Christian values. It is a shame that UPND and its leader have stooped so low as to embrace an abomination, just for the sake of foreign sponsorship to enter State House. As for Edgar Lungu and his PF house with the People of Zambia; we reject to legalise the abomination of homosexuality; and we instead choose to serve the Lord and uphold our culture,” said Mwila.