{"id":13789,"date":"2022-01-14T18:56:08","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T18:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks"},"modified":"2022-01-14T19:09:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T19:09:27","slug":"george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks","title":{"rendered":"George Mpombo calls for the bringing to book of what he described as fertilizer crooks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>THERE has been a well-orchestrated ripping of government through the supply of low quality and underweight bags of fertilisers which must be nipped into the bud, says George Mpombo.<\/p>\n

Mpombo says \u201cTamanga or flyby night companies must not be entertained as part of the process to phase out costly drain pipes. The Mast lead story of Monday, January 10, revealed that part of the fertiliser supplied to the government by various sources was of low quality and underweight.<\/p>\n

Government sources revealed that upon being subjected to tests by the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI), part of the consignment was found to be of low quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese fertilisers were meant for various parts of the country, but the most affected was that going to Southern Province. In fact, even the quantities were discovered to be underweight. So the government asked these suppliers to replace the fertilisers,\u201d the sources told The Mast.<\/p>\n

But Mpombo, a former defense minister under the Levy Mwanawasa MMD administration, said the matter needed to be thoroughly investigated in order to bring the crooks to book.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a well-orchestrated syndicate ripping off the government through supplying low quality and underweight bags of fertilizers. The scum must be nipped in the bud before government loses huge sums of money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mpombo, who once served as Kafulafuta member of parliament, noted that: \u201cthese criminal activities are a serious threat to national food security as crop yield is highly compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the \u201cunsuspecting peasant farmer despite his hard work is robbed of the fruits of his labour\u201d. Mpombo advised the UPND government to ensure specifications of the fertilizers are confirmed before receipt and distribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is need to float the tender process openly so that transparency and accountability is attained to ensure credible suppliers with strong track record are picked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the supplier must have the capacity and integrity to rectify any shortcomings in the supply chain. \u201cTamanga (run) or flyby the night companies must not be entertained as part of the process to phase out costly drain pipes,\u201d said Mpombo.<\/p>\n

According to the Mast, when contacted, agriculture minister Reuben Mtolo Phiri confirmed the fact the fertiliser supplied was of low quality and underweight that and said the government had since informed the suppliers and asked them to replace the commodity.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one has refused. How can they refuse because we did the test, isn\u2019t it? So, all we\u2019re doing is we sample here and there and when we find that the fertiliser is not good enough, we ask them to replace it. Yea, we have gotten those reports and our men are on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we\u2019ve gotten those reports. I can confirm and our men are on it,\u201d said Mtolo.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Yes, but you know what, let me say something to you. Some of these stories might look very sensational but the effects they have on the economy can be very, very devastating.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, be very careful the way you write this story. We are on top of things. Every corner where we are receiving a problem, we are making sure that the fertiliser is being replaced. Depending on how you write it, it can become a very difficult situation. Even farmers who have received good fertiliser will start saying we have bad fertiliser.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where responsibility and patriotism could come in. Whoever is giving you this information, be very, very careful because we could end up into a lot of complicated situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what I have to say to you, The Mast. It\u2019s a very sensational story for you. But depending on what you write you could create a very, very unnecessary problem. You\u2019re calling me for the second time, it means you are very pleased with what you\u2019re doing. And I can just caution you that be very careful. Be extremely careful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I\u2019m saying that, is this; you could be given this information by a group of people who think they themselves could not get involved. Now, we are busy checking the stock, alright! We\u2019re busy checking the stock to make sure everywhere we have got good quality fertiliser being given to our people.\u201d SOURCE: The Mast<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. THERE has been a well-orchestrated ripping of government through the supply of low quality and underweight bags of fertilisers which must be nipped into the bud, says George Mpombo. Mpombo says \u201cTamanga or flyby night companies must not be entertained as part of the process to phase out costly drain pipes. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":13788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,16],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-13789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorge Mpombo calls for the bringing to book of what he described as fertilizer crooks - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THERE has been a well-orchestrated ripping of government through the supply of low quality and underweight bags of ferti ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George Mpombo calls for the bringing to book of what he described as fertilizer crooks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THERE has been a well-orchestrated ripping of government through the supply of low quality and underweight bags of ferti ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-14T18:56:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-14T19:09:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/01\/img-61e1ca33022b6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"George Mpombo calls for the bringing to book of what he described as fertilizer crooks\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-14T18:56:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-14T19:09:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks\"},\"wordCount\":735,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/01\/img-61e1ca33022b6.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/george-mpombo-calls-for-the-bringing-to-book-of-what-he-described-as-fertilizer-crooks\",\"name\":\"George Mpombo calls for the bringing to book of what he described as fertilizer crooks - 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