GOVERNMENT will by tomorrow settle outstanding balances owed to farmers countrywide for maize sold to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock permanent secretary David Shamulenge has said.
Dr Shamulenge said in an interview that all farmers countrywide will be paid by tomorrow.
“As I speak to you, I am in Ikelenge district facilitating the payment of this money to farmers. The remaining batch of farmers will be paid by Friday this week,” Dr Shamulenge said.
He assured that outstanding balances will be paid to all farmers who supplied maize to FRA countrywide.
Dr Shamulenge said Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Wylbur Simuusa also assured that Government is working hard to ensure that all farmers are paid before the end of the week.
FRA has already paid about 80 percent of farmers countrywide while the remaining 20 percent from Northern, Eastern and Southern provinces would be cleared this week.
Dr Shamulenge, however, did not state the outstanding amount owed to farmers but that Mr Simuusa will do so today.
He advised farmers to remain calm as Government has already secured funds to pay them
Insult to the farmers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why didnt they pay them all this time?Advice to the farmers they just want to buy your vote, remember next year you are selling you produce. Let us vote them out of office so that what has happened doesnt repeat itself. They are taking you for granted. Get your money tommorrow, and VOTE WISELY on tuesday.
This is an act of desperation on the part of the PF. Farmers don’t be cheated by this ploy. PF are friendly when they need your vote but are evil towards you when they are in power. Remember that, don’t forget how cruel these thugs have been, together with the now dead thug Sata. Vote Wisely, Vote HH. Zambia Forward!!
Honestly, this is unacceptable and Edgar Lungu must make sure that heads roll from the FRA, PS and Directors in the Ministries responsible when he becomes president next week. He cannot retain such incompetent personnel. This has been the worst managed sector under PF. Some of these so called professional civil servants in the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture are seriously out of their depth and must be removed.
Get your money farmers and vote wisely for a fellow farmer who understands your situation. The government is behaving as though they are doing you a favour now when it’s your money they owe you and are supposed to pay you with interest.
The power of incumbency
This is an act of desperation on the part of the PF. Farmers don’t be cheated by this ploy. PF are friendly when they need your vote but are evil towards you when they are in power. Remember that, don’t forget how cruel these thugs have been, together with the now dead thug Sata.
The damage is already done as farmers did not plant accordingly due to lack of inputs. They should get the money, but boot out PF in next week’s elections. If it were not for these elections, the farmers should have as well forgotten about their money.
Yes pay them their dues and please farmers don’t forget the suffering you have undergone all these months.They don’t deserve to continue.
Too late Bafikala.Chi Lungu kuyabebele.I have told all my relatives from the village who come to borrow money for seed and fertilizer to vote for a farmer HH or risk not to get any money from me next season.
I wish most farmers could have access to the internet and read this comment! otherwise its misplaced
The PF government think from behind, this is not a favor, these people have suffered enough, these farmers have power in their hands, get the money , demand interest and then vote these thugs out. HH is a farmer, he knows better when to pay you so you can plan for the next planting season. Pf thugs do not care about hard working people, they are used rewarding lazy people, if you carry a panga you are in the right camp, for those who want Zambia move forward, get rewarded for your hard work, Vote HH. Chagwa angwa naka bottle.
This is very good but a little exercise too late . I hope they fulfil their word. However the sufferings our farmers were subjected to by these pathetic failures was too much. Pf in their dullness they think they have done a favour to farmers yet the reality is that they have killed them.
This is the highest form of cruelty. This government has propelled itself at the expense of the poor. They know that these people have no voice and no one cares enough. They can afford to marginalze the poor and face no consequences. Well now the birds have come to roost and the people once again get to show who really has the power. Now on the eve of an election they somehow found the money? They had the money all along just holding on to it making people suffer so they can gain campaign traction by doing it now. Meanwhile farmers are begging to survive. How anyone can be so cruel is surprising. True power belongs to
WE THE PEOPLE.
PLEASE REMEMBER OUR FARMERS.
SAVE OUR FARMERS VOTE HH! !!!
bapompwe how dare do you farmers now when the farming season started mid October last year, for sure does this make sense, what harvest do you then expect this year without money for the poor farmer to use for the inputs from October last year. shame on you. Dear farmers vote widely vote HH otherwise this seasons harvest you not even receive a penny.
They say ‘when the gods want to destroy some one or a nation because of one’s evil they first harden their hearts so that they continue doing wrong’. This is what pf has done. Paying the farmer 4 days b4 an election has simply worked against pf. In short you deliberately didn’t want farmers to plant that is why you delayed paying them. Bye, bye pf. So sad that you go into the annuls of Zambia’s history as a party that misruled Zambia and in 3 years were chucked out. Country let us tell our farmer relatives not to be deceived by this act of desperation.
This is a cruel government. Why try to appease before getting fired.
Five days before polling day the pf government have realise to pay the farmers. This is disturbing, when they know that they wasted their time and this government does not care for its people.
Chagwa na botolo yamoba. This time round on Tuesday 20th January 2015 uzagwelatu. Too late for farmers. Can any good farmer buy his farm inputs now? It goes to show that these pangas have no clue how farming seasons come and go. The money should have been given to the deserving farmers in October and not now. Minister of Agriculture does not understand how farming is done let alone Chagwa and Sata. I can assure you the Satas soul is in torment and not resting right now. He caused alot of misery to a number of people and especially farmers.
Problem with Zambians they will forget and vote for selfish people.
Lungu thinks he clever and people cannot see that is an act of desperation. Did the farmers have to wait for an election in order to get paid. He knows, he is losing that is why he doing all these things. Additionally, he has nothing to offer Zambia other than violence, incompetence and rampant corruption
pf behaves like min bus conductors when they want you to jump in the min buses they even address you as atate/ amaiyi tinyamuka manjenje si tiima paliponse teyeni .you jump in the respect finishes . they start telling you that you think we are going to cash you. so same with farmers treatment today even the rains has rafused to rain because of pf failure to pay farmers in time . as for you farmers be it true that all are going to be paid . make sure you also refuse to vote for them . time to have a farmer as president. and the rest of the country an economist. and that is hh. flight hh 2015 .ha ha ha just five days more to go .
IF THIS PF GOVERNMENT CAN STRUGGLE TO PAY FARMERS EVEN WHEN THEY ARE FACED WITH A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WHEN THEY HAVE TO APPEASE THE VOTERS BY DOING GOOD TO THEM SO THAT THEY CAN BE VOTED FOR, WHAT MORE AFTER THE ELECTIONS NEXT WEEK IF THEY ARE TO REMAIN IN POWER? LUNGU HAS SOLD OUR COUNTRY TO NIGERIAN MUSLIMS, THE DANGEROUS BOKOHARAM. LUNGU THRIVES IN SPILLING BLOOD! LUNGU WANTS TO SACRIFICE ZAMBIANS. LUNGU’S HEART IS BLACK, FULL OF DIRTY EVIL. IF WE NEED GOD TO BLESS OUR COUNTRY, THEN DON’T ALLOW THE SON OF THE DEVIL LUNGU TO RULE OUR COUNTRY. YOU NOW HAVE THE CHANCE TO VOTE FOR HH, THE PERSON WHO HAS RECEIVED GOD’S FAVOR. VIVA HH VIVA! VIVA UPND VIVA! VIVA REAL CHANGE VIVA! ZAMBIA FORWARD.
Now thats a govment at work
Pf and your supporters are usless! how can you insult farmers i such a way and what am urging farmers is to eliminate this predecament-cuasing panga pf govenment.sure from last year till now and farmers need to buy their farming inputs.pf did not come into power to work for zambia but Gods way of remainding zambians of their wrong choice for president in 2011.this time you must know that pf has liftd the cost of living by with-holding farmers’ money from last year.you planted your crops,wed them,applied fertilizer,harvested and you even struggled to find farming inputs due to high costs of inputs becuase the pf dissolved the subsidy my GOD……………….. pf God will punish you.students at CBU were denied to write their end of year baccalareat due to lack of money which the pf has.
80% OF FARMERS HAVE BEEN PAID. ITS ONLY 20% WHO HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED THEIR MONEY. IF VOTING WILL DEPEND ON WHO HAS RECEIVED MONEY, THEN THE PF WILL STILL GET 80% OF FARMERS. SO THIS NOISE ABOUT FARMERS NOT BEEN PAID IS JUST A CAMPAIGN STRATEGY WHICH IS NOT EVEN WELL CALCULATED.
This is not right for you to say ONLY 20% have not been paid. If you understand the number that is behind 20% you would not say only. For your own information even one (1%) is one too many. Imagine ift it was your mother alone in the village who was the 20% not paid what difference would it make to your siblings being supported by your unpaid mother? The payment was due way back in September 2014. Please let us change our thinking this is why we have politicians who behave the way they do because of followers who think like yourself. They will decide to pay only when they need your vote. My sister a single mother of four has not been paid since September 2014, if you had a conscience you would imagine your statement of ONLY 20%.
SHAME ON YOU PAYA FARMER.
A well meaning Zambian can not give u a genuine vote. its only those that cursed their children, relatives, and friends that they shall never see the other side of life that can vote for PF at the moment.
Unless Nga ubuchi bulabelela kubantu bambi. they cant draw a line between poverty. They have no hope to live for.
when are they going to buy the farming inputs. This is the greatest torture to the poor people.
Better not to vote that to vote for recycled liers Panga family.
Oloyeee history must never repeat itself taa ba Lungu anu sure whydidn’t you pay us all this time. Anu mwabona kwambayi ciindi chashika cama vote that is when you are paying us now some of us we didn’t even buy the seed. Please next time try to pay us on time I know most farmers have already been paid but you see the way some people are talking is like you have not paid a single farmer. People learn to appreciated sometimes. God said forgive. People of Zambia forgive them next time they will treat farmers kindly
PF means Paya Farmer
PF and Allah (unto whom be peace) are great.
Our farmers are getting paid.
Well done, good governance.
Rubbish! May his soul the big thug rest in peace of course not in peace for zambian citizens who have died drom hunger and starvation. Farmers will be paid immediately after HH TAKES over in 5 days time from this moment.
Pf are lying farmers will not be paid it’s political trick like in the case of our nurses since that minister announced reinstating the sacked nurses no one has been reinstated. Pf must be deleted overwhelmely from thepolitical arena.
Are all farmers not educated that they can easily cheat them and get their votes. This is desperate act by PF. Why now when others who placed for this payments were put behind bars. Is only a farmer who is a f00l who can be happy that he has been paid and in return vote for PF. Bloggers talk to your relatives who are still being owed not to vote for PF.
This is unacceptable and please farmers don’t be used by PF. You were neglected for too long. Reflect at the sufferings you have gone through.
Vote this PF thugs out of government. They don’t care for you anymore.
Uko ekuzembaika. I urge you to do a don’t kubeba on them.
Don’t celebrate over this payment. You have been delayed to be paid for too long. PF is not even ashamed they are telling farmers that they bought more than what they needed.
Vote them out
The assertion that 80º/º of the farmers have been paid is also not true. There has developed a very corrupt culture at FRA that the government is turning a blind eye to. You have to pay off some one to get paid. The upper echelon want to pretend this is not going on or if they don’t know it is then they are incompetent either way some one needs to take responsibility.PlPlaying political football with people’s livelihood is an injustice. How anyone in their right mind can even think of voting back PF into power is surprising. Unless you are one of the people gaining fromthe rampant corruption. Imagine having to bosha a clerk just to have anything processed and you are forced to because your family is starving. PF needs to go
PLEASE REMEMBER OUR FARMERS
SAVE OUR FARMERS VOTE HH! !!
Thank you again Mr. Hichilema for leading the way with this! So what’s on your agenda for PF to do next?
#SaveOurFarmers
Vote HH