SENIOR Chief Kopa of the Bisa people in Mpika district in Northern Province has appealed to Government to send relief food to Munikashi area in his chiefdom where people are facing starvation.
The traditional leader said in an interview from Mpika yesterday that the people in Munikashi depend on fishing for their livelihood but they likely suffer starvation because the streams where they fish from are depleted.
People in Munikashi engage in a fish-for-maize or cassava barter system but have almost nothing to continue with this kind of trade due to lack of fish in the nearby streams. Senior Chief Kopa said the people in the area are now walking long distances to search for food while others are doing some pieces of work in neighbouring villages to get a meal.
“In my chiefdom, we have Munikashi area where most of the people depend on fishing for their survival. But right now, they have no food because the streams no longer have fish,” he said. The traditional ruler appealed to Government to consider helping the people in Munikashi with relief food before the hunger situation worsens.
The chief said Government could probably give the starving people in his area the bags of maize at Kopamusumba satellite depot which are just rotting. “Near my palace, there is a satellite depot with bags of maize which are just rotting. We are appealing to the Government to consider giving the people the bags of maize to enable them to feed their families,” he said.
Senior Chief Kopa said Munikashi is a big community and that most of his subjects originate from there. He also called on Government to expedite the construction of Kopa High School in his chiefdom.
Senior Chief Kopa said work on the school is being done at a slow pace.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Chief just instruct your people to help themselves from that depot. Tell your chief retainers to have a register and divide the rotting maize equally, Govt. will not give you that maize for free but they will allow it to rot for mbewa to eat
i support you chief better to feed hungry mouths than to go to waste. That kind of situ has become common. Dont kna what the gov’t is planning. Too many reshuffles pipo shud be given ample time to execute their duties diligently. These premature termination of employment is costly
who is the minister of agriculture kanshi and what the hell is he/she doing about this unneccessary and irrisponsible wasting of much needed food? Some of these people deserve to be starved for months to see how important food is to a poor and starving soul. Parthetic!
IGWEE your govt don’t care just see what you can do for your People. Talk to Sata your son ,he donated a guest house there so he may do the same if Dr Kaseba approves. Mind you they are PF=PROPER FOOLS
Sometimes i wonder why we call our freinds Majata ng’ombe when we cant even feed ourselves.You cant find such cases around this time in SP.Am considering defecting to SA just need to add an H to my name.Yes we are the ruling tribe but….
its very funny that maize u want iwe ka chief is in those depots because of rupia banda’a good policy and yet u rejected him wyt insults and nw u want to eat food that came out of his idea’s
It is a pity that we have bumper harvest and yet we do not even know what to do and how to store the maize. What is the point of having bumper harvest then? let the maize be collected and used for relief then. On the other hand people in that area have to learn that the fish ban imposed between Deember and March is meant for their benefit in that fish is given an opportunity to breed. Now they are facing fish depletion. Secondly the chief and the people should alo look at alternative livelihoods. If they have been engaged in fishing all thetime why not diversify to agriculture as well. Just my thoughts
Why can these people grow there own maize have u guys never head of farming grants
The rain was free from God gov provides fertilizer there is a maize depot in ur area so other around you grow maize n feed themselves so I say to you chief tell your people to eat their lazyness. Imwe guys At the top don’t feel sorry for lazy people. If there was a drought yes give them maize or else loan it to them now and make sure they pay back
THIS MAKES SENSE. THE PF WILL RESPOND POSITIVELY AND QUICKLY. THE MAIZE WILL SOON BE YOURS SIR AND YOUR ELDERS.
the kolwestans are already hungry…yayayayayayaya..mwapya !where were you when it was raining..?
Some people work hard / others want handouts. The chief must encourage his subjects to work not just looking for barter – did they grow the fish? Of course not – chief must not encourage laziness.
The poor farmer who produced that maize has not been paid but you as senior chief cant even speak out for him/her.Now that you are starving you want the rotting maize for free.poor farmer toiled to produce that.sorry for the hunger though and indeed you need government service because thats their responsibilty to take care of citizens.lets learn to appreciate the services of other people such as small scale farmers
spot on.pay the farmer first.
@PaZed,
good point. As a matter of fact these villagers are very stuborn when told to refrain from using mosquito nets to catch fish. This should serve as a lesson never to be forgotten. They think fish falls from heaven and the supply is endless. Government should convince these chaps to start fish farming and grow their own food coz handouts will make them dependent.
SHAME ON THESE PEOPLE. THEY CAN NOT FEED THEMSELVES AND WANT FREE HANDOUT. THEY SHOULD BE MADE TO WORK FOR IT. YOU LAZY AND TRIBLISTS.
VIVA THE NORTH WEST, WESTERN AND THE GREAT SOUTHERNERS. WE SHALL REMAIN UNITED
Ha ha ha they are suprised that the fish stock is depleted. These are the same people who were excited when the president suspended the fish ban. Zambians are not forward looking people. we get so ecited with the moment that we fail to analyse and relate it to the future. So now what are you going to eat the nshima with when the maize is given to you…ooops forgot my friends have bakolwe!!
wasa mwana and others please desist from from commenting in that regional manner and be objective if our LT should continue being worthwhile.
Hand out hand out hand out!!!when are these people going to learn to take care of themselves.They cannnot be entirely depending on fishing.This is what we call chimbwi no plan.They should learn from other provinces how to sustain themselves.I hope their son will bail them out this time around.but please dont make it a habit.