Africa-Press – Zambia. Patriotic Front (PF) Presidential Candidate Hon Greyford Monde has accused the government of being the biggest smuggler of maize and called on them to take responsibility for the ongoing hunger crisis in the country. Monde, who is also the Patriotic Front (PF) Presidential Candidate, criticized the government for their inconsistent agricultural policies and their desire for profits on strategic national food reserves.
Monde stated that the government should stop accusing small scale traders and take responsibility for their actions. The government has recently called on millers to begin importing mealie meal from neighbouring countries, which is an indication of the severity of the situation in Zambia. It is a taboo in Zambia to see government restricting people on the number of mealie meal bags to buy.
Kitwe and Kalulushi districts in Zambia have been hit hard by the mealie-meal shortage, and the government has stepped in to provide relief. The Zambia National Service Milling plant in Choma has supplied four trucks of mealie-meal to the affected areas, with each truck carrying 1,200 bags.
The mealie-meal is being sold at K175 for breakfast meal and K155 for roller meal in Kitwe’s Chamboli market and Chimwemwe’s Twatasha Combined School. The District Commissioner for Kitwe, Lawrence Mwanza, warned members of the public against smuggling the mealie-meal provided by the government, and urged them to consume it instead.
Chimwemwe Member of Parliament, Allan Banda, thanked the government for intervening in the mealie-meal crisis and urged the government to prioritize the local people’s needs.
Meanwhile, Twatasha Ward Councillor, Felix Mwinuna, lamented the unscrupulous traders’ actions, who were enticing shop owners to sell mealie-meal at inflated prices.
Some Kitwe residents have already begun buying mealie-meal from the government, and they have expressed their gratitude for the government’s actions. They thanked President Hakainde Hichilema and the local leadership for supplying the mealie-meal close to their doorsteps and urged the government to continue distributing it.
The Copperbelt Province is currently experiencing a shortage of mealie-meal due to the unavailability of maize in the province. The government’s intervention in Kitwe and Kalulushi is expected to mitigate the crisis in the short term. However, the government needs to address the underlying issue of the ongoing maize smuggling to ensure long-term food security for the country.
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