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We will revoke your licences and introduce price controls, Sata warns millers

By editor
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President Michael Sata
President Michael Sata

President Michael Sata has strongly warned that the PF government will revoke milling licences and resort to price controls if millers fail to reduce the escalating Mealie meal prices.

“All of us here (State House) are getting tax payers money but what are we doing to help the poor people?” he asked.

“The price of Mealie meal goes up uncontrollably and you are all just watching and I would like to warn the millers, we as a government, we can reintroduce price controls if they want to exploit the people in the villagers, the people in township they don’t work and you say Mealie meal can cost K80, 000. Any millers selling Mealie meal at 50,000 will have their licence hanging,” President Sata said.

President Sata said his government is concerned that millers have continued exploiting consumers by selling the commodity at prices which are beyond the reach of the poor.

He said any miller selling a 25 Kg Mealie meal bag at 50,000 is exploiting the poor.

President Sata took a swipe at senior government officials accusing them of failing to address the problem of high Mealie meal prices.

President Sata was speaking at State House this morning when he swore in newly appointed Lands Deputy Minister Danny Chingimbu.

Meanwhile, President Sata has warned Mr. Chingimbu against using government resources to organise the opposition MMD.

He said Mr. Chingimbu should instead ask for resources from MMD leader Nevers Mumba whom he referred to as Jail master if he wants to organise the MMD.

President Sata also called for hard work and commitment from Ministers saying there is a lot of laziness among Zambians adding that Ministers should lead by example.

“Here at State House, coming late for work is a dismissible offence. If you come late, then you are stealing from the tax payers. Be like Honourable Chikwanda, you go to the Ministry of Finance at 07 Hours, you will find Honourable Chikwanda there,” President Sata said.

editor
editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

131 COMMENTS

  1. Sata Nimbwa sana. his GOONS sold maize to DRC and he himself UKWA sent maize to his hero Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Now the millers are getting the maize at a high price.

    The warnings are empty threats that have no place in a free market economy.
    Price controls here again.

    Zambia twasebana.

    • i stand to be corrected but are the millers not getting maize from GRZ? actuall at a cheaper price than the FRA bought it. it was in parliament when the opposition MPs were asking why Gvt was sellig maize at a loss. are you in zambia or you jast have the affinity to insult the head of state/ shame.

    • Ba Mpangula Mputyu; mwa sebana. Ifiselemu mutima kwati bali milowa. Baka Teka ebo mule tuka isha ba wishinwe? Since Mwabelenga efyo the So called imbwa isosele, mwe tamulimbwa?? Learn to mind your language? You don’t lose anything by keeping quiet if all you have are insults my man.

      Please see if you can become a better Zambian than you are today; you are a terrible Zambian, if at all you are.

    • Iwe chikala chanoko are you really normal? Are you happy our people are suffering and yet the government is selling maize at a cheaper price to mitigate the prices. Stanyoko.

  7. Is this man Sata normal? Surely, how did this country end up with man as President? He doesn’t even seem to understand a free market economy, talk less about what determines pricing. Does Sata think that you just fix a price without considering cost? This man is an embarassment to the institution of presidency.

    • Man its you who is an embarrassment to us Zambians. You just rant without asking what the problem is..why man??  The fact is that Zambia has a lot of maize but the millers increased the price citing increased price of maize which is not true. The government responded by offloading subsidized maize onto the millers in a hope that they would now reduce the price but still to no avail. Now tel me, can’t you smell a big rat with the millers? How can they be subsidized while maintaining the higher price of mealie meal? Man be wise don’t just yarp..shaaaa 

  8. So true mr president.It is baout time.As for Mpangula you are surely the biggest mongrel yourself.High time some of you learnt how to blog objectively than running to using insults. 

  9. no 1 ulimbwa sana chikala,na imwe ba lusaka time u don’t think properly na mulya umundemwa sana u are insulting Sata indirectly while the the w dogs are insulting him directly i have seen that be careful and take my advise seriously before your site is closed while w-dog the planns are under way watch the space.

    • You can close Lusaka Times but you will never never touch watchdog.
      You fools hav failed to rule.Now you can see KK has messed you up.You are so stupid blind that the increase is not from the Millers but the retailers.Go to Kabwata market and ask them if at all they have licenses ,,,Zero Viva MMD.

  11. Mr president sir, price control is not a solution to this curtail of foreign millers. Since we have more than enough maize in the country, what is needed is to create as many small millers as possible, there after offload the maize for the people to buy and then take it for milling-Mugaiwa. There is no need of introducing price control sir. Use the money at the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission  to buy small milling machines. You will see how this foreign millers curtail will fall. They are really taking advantage of the docile Zambians by forcing govnt to give them subsidized maize and then they sale it at hyper profit. What a bunch of devils they are…shaa.

    Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.

  12. Millers misbehaving thinking they are still operating under MMD corrupt practices will not get them far. Smuggling mealie meal to DRC and the great lakes should not be a priority when they are getting subsidised maize from FRA. Millers should head this timely warning and be patriotic.

  15. Finally the father of the Nation has spoken…work also on your compaign promises especially on more money in our pockets.

  16. Mr president sir, price control is not a solution to this curtail of foreign millers. Since we have more than enough maize in the country, what is needed is to create as many small millers as possible, there after offload the maize for the people to buy and then take it for milling-Mugaiwa. There is no need of introducing price control sir. Use the money at the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission  to buy small milling machines. You will see how this foreign millers curtail will fall. They are really taking advantage of the docile Zambians by forcing govnt to give them subsidized maize and then they sale it at hyper profit. What a bunch of devils they are…shaa.
    Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.

  17. Bushe Mpangula lishina lya Mu Zambia? The bible tells us to respect our leaders because even as we elect them we go thru a series of prayers for Him to direct us to a suitable leader depending upon the prevailing situation in the country. Mpangula must not insult the president. He has seen the dog in Mr Sata when we cannot see. It takes a thief to notice one. So mpangula must be the biggest dog.

  18. Millers should not take advantage of the free market economy to exploit us!!!!! Viva mr President….! Do whatever is possible to bring down mealiemeal prices before people lose hope in PF!!!!!

  20. Dictator Sata has plunged the country 30 years back of threats, price controls and meaningless appointments with a gun at the appointee’s back. Dictator receives advice from KK and Mugabe and those suffering are Zambians. See, Dictator Sata refers to state house as fellow sufferers. Who buys meali meal at K80 pin at state house?. Dictator Sata will do anything to appear sensible but behind it all is “let Zambians suffer” especially those opposing his rule. Thats typical of all world Dictators and Dictator Sata rules in Zambia.

  22. These millers have been around for a long time… ask your new found friend KK how the chased him out of statehouse.

  24. I THINK WE NEED MORE ONLINE PUBLICATIONS WITH GOOD MORALS  THAT WILL EXIB PROFESSIONALISM TO AID THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR COUNTRY, HOW CAN YOU BA LT ALLOW SUCH INSULTS TO FILTER THROUGH, IT DOESN’T HELP ANYONE, WHAT’S YOUR AGENDA?

  25. Levy and RB managed without price controls. Now we have this illiterate in the Colonial Governor’s mansion who thinks everything operates on commands or orders. Pathetic excuse for a President. Where did Price controls take his hero Kaunda. Wasn’t it not in a dark dungeon where Zambians were told to keep watch to see a glimmer of light at the end of a tunnel? Sata you and your minions exported the maize crop you inherited from the MMD. You created a shortage and high prices are the result. My dear go and play insolo with your friend KK. You’re not qualified for the Presidency!

    • you are a liar man. Zambia has got more than enough maize. The maize they exported was for the purpose of crating room for the last season harvest. Go to every province you will find stock piles of maize. Govnt has offloaded the subsidized maize as per demand of your useless millers, now why are they not reducing the price as per their promise??? Don t just rant without facts…shaaa.

    • My friend lets be honest your first sentence says it all about your empty headedness; please let start reading books and not newspaper captions only. Those books in your display cabinet are for reading not decoration. I feel for your kids to have you to look up to…

    • Maxwell and Truth Hates, you two are moochers. Just continue enjoying taxpayers money at the Zambian missions where your relative posted you . You know nothing about the workings of a market economy that’s why you are for this rubbish of price controls. The next thing we will get from Ukwa is Kaunda’s Price and Control Commission with Ukwa’s relative as CEO. We’ve danced to this music before and it was not to our taste! You two are used to free stuff that’s why you do not see anything wrong in setting prices for someone’s product! You’re nothing but a bunch of economic illiterates!

  28. And what happened to “operation flood the market” by FRA? Next time we should have a well schooled president in Zambia. Atleast he would know that the govt can influence market fundamentals without using outright price controls. Oh the man is just yapping as usual

    • In the USA there is a Public Insurance policy in place to protect the poor.As a leader cant seat down to see the poor being exploited.

  29. Controls will not make mealie meal shortages go or make maize available.We have tried it before. It simply does NOT work. Controls distort the market and cause problems like we have seen. We have created a price arbitrage with the neighbouring country and hence the smuggling to exploit the price arbitrage . Let the markets prevail and there won’t be any shortages. It is said ” AMENSHI YAKONKA UMUFOLO !”

  30. Its not true Millers are getting Maize at K60,000 per 50KG Bag.Govt.Paid farmers K65,000 per bag.Fuel is controlled (uniform through out the country) introduced by Former President HE Banda.

  31. KAUNDA NATIONALISED MILLING COMPANIES BECAUSE OF PRICES AND LATER THE SAME MILLING COMPANIES COULD NOT BE SUSTAINED BY GOVERNMENT. THEN THE POPULATION WAS SMALL BUT NOW IT HAS GROWN. CHIMANGA CHANGA WAS ONE OF THE MILLING COMPANIES THAT WAS NATIONALISED BY KAUNDA AND WHEN MMD CAME INTO POWER IN 1991, THE OWNERS OF CHIMANGA CHANGA SUED THE STATE AND WON BACK THEIR MILLING COMPANY AND WERE PAID MORE THAN 50 MILLION AT THAT TIME.
    WE MAY GO THE SAME WAY, MILLERS WAKE UP AND I ALSO HOPE THIS REBASING OF THE KWACHA DOES NOT MAKE THINGS TO GROW WORSE LIKE IT WAS IN ZIMBABWE WHEN THEY REBASED THEIR ZIM DOLLAR AND SOON GOT WORSE AND ENDED UP USING THE AMERICAN DOLLAR AS THEIR OFFICIAL CURRENCY. ZAMBIA NEEDS HELP FROM GOD NOT FROM POLITICIANS. SOMETHING SERIOUSLY HAS FALLEN APART SOMEWHERE.

  34. FREE ADVICE TO ALL BLOGGERS AND PEOPLE IN GOVT: Price control is not a solution to this challenge. Long-term solution to many challenges facing the country is as follows: (1) let us set up parastatal companies in the milling industry that will be vehicles thr which Govt can influence prices of mealimeal; (2) let us have a national airline that will be a vehicle thr which we can promote tourism; (3) falling short of recommending to have a parastatal company in the mining industry, let us have substantial shareholdings in most mining companies so that we benefit thr dividends, etc from our own resources.

    • All those things were tried and failed….  reason. Relatives and friends will be employed. You must be very young not to have seen it happen. The question you must ask yourself is why is it that the was no mealie meal shortage during Mwanawasa and Banda. If you know thw answer then u will understand what is happening

  36. A PATRIOTIC ZAMBIAN CANNOT DESTROY HIS COUNTRY BY TEAMING UP WITH INTERNATIONAL THE DEVIL AMSTERDUM WHATEVER. ZAMBIANST NEED TO B TUOGHT A BITTER LEASON. THEY ARE TAKING THINGS 4 GRANTED. THOSE OF U THAT BOAST OF BEING EDUCATED WAT ARE U DOING? DOG!

  37. Jairos….free markets is not the same as EXPLOITATION! Selling a 25kg of maize flour at K80,000 cannot never be justifiable even in a free market! That is pure GREED, Naked exploitation or PURE THEFT FROM THE PUBLIC and the laws pertaining to licensing should take care of that! Sata is right on this one ALTHOUGH he is taking action for wrong reasons. All politicians leaarnt a lesson from KAUNDA that food prices can bring your government down!!

    • Why are you saying 80,000 is not justifiable, do you have the costings for the production of a bag of mealie meal? Ya right, you don’t have

  38. Zambians are lazy to the core,corrupt,docile, pretenders,uncritical in thinking ,vultures and name it such that even if the achangel was to b President they will still be unschooled. Especially these devil incarnates that are insulting. TRAITORS!

  39. @The Engineer (Australia)….you talking rubbish really!! We revoke the license and give it to another Business person – we have no shortage of Business people in Zambia. Who do you think you are? Simply because you are in the Retired people’s choice country of Australia you think you know it all! After all, you more likely to be doing weird jobs like washing old people’s bums on cleaning toilets; etc which is why your thinking is so bizzare!

    • Why have you not given the so called business people licences so that the can produce mealie meal cheaper and put the current millers out of business… 

      Use your head to think not your hands

    • ‘Washing old people’s bums’. Man that’s an old and tired line. Think of another way to take a swipe at Zambian expatriates, will you?

  41. Actually millers are exploiting a poor man. These criminals are working with the opposition to disadvantege pf politicall. Even capitalism must b controlled.Their prices cannot be justified.Only sick minds are disagreeing with what said.H

  42. How do these millers sleep at nite the thieving rats; the president has our backs that i can assure you. Happy Holidays!!

  44. @Yebo: This is not South Africa where your name hails…why dont you go and live there if you want!! We dont need parastatals in any form again!! We will end up paying more Taxes so that Patriotic Fools can be flying free or Getting free mealie meals, etc. Do you really have brains or you are one of those people who think after talking like your friend Ukwah!

  45. The route Michael Sata wants to take of putting a ceiling on mealie meal prices is dangerous and will lead to the shortage of the commodity in many parts of the country as retailers will shun selling mealie meal at the ceiling price of K50,000.Millers will therefore experience lower turnover which might lead to redundancies.We might end up with longer queues than we experienced last time.

  46. What free market economy when we are clearly being exploted? The Pa Fwaka govt subsidised the price of maize from FRA and we expect the price to come down and not up!

    Food is a basic human right and where is the toothless so called Human Rights Commission? Iwe ka Mulembe with your ka slut Deputy, Mrs.Nkombo( by the way, thanks for the BJ,I know you may have forgotten especially with your mileage in that area!),Kasanka, say something about the situation kabili or you are just interested in getting money for you numerous girl friends?!! HRC indeed!!!

  47. People lets diversify our diet that’s what any progressive gov’t should be striving for and implementing policy to achieve this as a long-term goal. We can not be dependent on meal-meal its just unsustainable and retrogressive.
    Wake up people.  

  48. Ba LT naimwe, how can you publish insults of a president like this!

    What moderation do you do? Some of these writers need a lot of guidance. They lack discipline. You are spoiling them now. They don’t even know that they are writing a page which can be opened anytime.

  49. #45,if you do not like what you see hear, then go jump into the lake of f.u.c.k yourself!!!who forces you to open this page? Do not preach discipline here,go and discipline your children or at best discipline yourself! Labish!!!

  50. Does sata know the price of fertilizers?Wasnt he part of the gvt that killed Namboard and Cooperatives? Wasnt he part of the privitisation. Does Sata know when he is going forward or backwards?
    No 1 is right

  51. Dull Presidents always make wrong choices,When this ka President was donating maize to Mugabe never knew that they will be soon shortage of Mealie meal? Wait until the Kwacha is rebased my fellow citizens,thats when you see things worse than this.

  54. Wise men simply work without issueing threats!! They say actions speak louder than words whats wrong with that? time is ticking and very fast,i did not expect this President to be swearing at will thi time around.He is a joker!

  55. That’s just rubbish how can you say sata is our father atase my father was never a moron at any time so if your father was a distructive ***** then go ahead and call sata a father don’t insult us by saying sata is our father that’s an offensive statement 

  57. All the maize surplus left by RB went to make chibuku brews for these illiterates running our govt now.Thats why Sata can’t tell between market economy and price controls because his thinking capacity has been compromised by chibuku.

  58. Mr President,
    Please allow us to come in as foreign investors. Lower the threshold from $300,000. We can produce maize and other agricultural products, and flood the country with food….AS THE ISRAELIS DID IN KAFUBU BLOCK IN LUANSHYA 

  59. Why can’t he not call for a press conference at State House instead of these swearing ceremonies? 13+ months and no press conference its unheard of. 

  62. Sata has failed. Price controls on mealie meal. Next will be bread. And then phone charges! Not forgetting fees charged by prostitutes. They will all be set at the socialist colonial Governor’s mansion!

  63. Production cost having drastically increased….high fuel prices, erratic electricity supply, increased wage bill etc. Why are they so confrontational, please dialogue with the millers to find a long lasting solution. Why didn’t we have such problems in the past? Don’t tell us the millers are also bitter.

    • The biggest question is how come we did not have such problems during the 20 years of mmd rule, why cant government consult and work together with the former ruling party in addressing these challenges, their is need to put Zambia first here, I believe someone in the Ministry of agriculture is not doing his job right or under performing, our food security is threatened so to speak.

  64. The President needs committed citizens who share his vision for the future. He has alot to deal with and the pricing structures of Mealie Meal is complex that needs well trained patriots to arrest the situation. The instability from lack of maize will destanbilize our country. Some of you may not agree with MCS but thats alright as no man can rule any country with 100% approval.

  65. spending many hours in an office is immaterial. What matter is the output i.e., productivity! This is the modern way of monitoring hard work.

  67. Mr. President One word NATIONALIZE those Companies which were sold for pennies. That will teach the whole lot to not take govt for granted. 

  69. Sata is wrong, this man should have enter grade 8 at least. Does even understand what it takes to develop a nation….

  71. CONGRATULATIONS MR HONOURABLE CHIKWANDA FOR YOUR POSITIVE WORK ATTITUDE. THAT’S TRULY LEADING BY EXAMPLE. THERE’S TOO MUCH LAZINESS IN ZAMBIA. EVEN PEOPLE WITH JOBS MOSTLY DO NOTHING IN THEIR OFFICES OR FIELDS. THIS NEGATIVE ATTITUDE MUST CHANGE IN ZAMBIA. REPORTING LATE FOR WORK MUST BE A DISMISSIBLE OFFENSE. TOO MUCH MAN HOURS ARE LOST THROUGH LATE-COMING, FINISHING WORK BEFORE TIME AND JUST LOAFING WHILE AT WORK BUT USING COMPANY PHONES FOR PRIVATE BUSINESSES. THIS MUST STOP.

  75. # 37 Daudi Isabi. Tell your president outcome of several COI he set up within 2 wks of being in state house. Threats to millers is not the solution to shortages of staple food of meali meal in Zambia. Its education that prepares individuals to think and plan with today’s requirements. A villager thinks what fits well with a village, a sole trader thinks according to his small business. Bring a villager to think national planning is courting problems leading to failure and shortages included. Ukusabaila pafula ba Sata, londole ziiiiiiiiii. Shemuna bane! Sheeeemu.

  77. There’s actually something very wrong with the way our president reasons. I am convinced beyond doubt.

    Shaking my damn head.

  79. After all has been said and done, I would like to hear something of substance come out of the mouth of our beloved leader.  The mealie meal issue needs to be approached with a sober mind or else it is going to escalate into an even bigger problem. A hungry stomach can be very easily turn into angry mobs of individuals. It is time to start governing and stop playing politics. Appointments of MPs to ministerial jobs does not necessarily translate into food on peoples tables. My conclusion is that he looks clueless most of the time, typical of someone who is trying to do something that is out of his depth.  

  80. It’s amazing how some people deceive themselves by thinking that they are loftier than other people.If you have replied to Mpangula’s post with insults leveled at him/she or his/her mother or father,then you are in the same category as he/she is. Am totally opposed to his/her insults but I would not show my disapproval with insults of my own.Am loftier than he/she is.

  81. There he goes again. This moron looks like he enjoys throwing Dr Mumba in jail; ati ‘Jail Master’. He’s behaving like a kid who’s been given a big gun for his birthday – no tact, intelligence between those ears, just endless threats. Frankly they’re starting to sound empty and toothless.

  82. Satana ,do you know what people are eating right now?The same GAMUIWA you were disparaging and mocking when were in your right place ,opposition!You are a true CNP,useless leader with no clue to economics what a shame of a president.

  84. Most comments are shallow offcalf reactionary statements. They lack a real analysis of underlying economic factors at play. Government subsidises ferts at production level. A bag which is commercially sold at K280,000 is ‘given’ to a farmer at K50,000! The rest, govt pays. This one bag fertilises 2 lima of maize, from where you get average 36 bags! The same govt, through FRA, buys a bag at K65,000! This a 50kg bag remember. Now, a miller buys 50kg bag of maize from FRA at K60,000, turns into two 25kg bags of meali-meal and you tell me I should buy one at K80,000?

    • Sir, the cost of miaze is admittedly the biggest component of mealie meal production. Have you considered the cost and impact of labour in view of the increased minimum value accross the value chain; transport, packaging, distribution and marketing? And the rising cost of foreign exchange component in repairs and maintenance? What of the cost of electricity and the the down time costs due to power outages? Sir, even if we nationalised all the milling companies today, the prices of mealie meal will only but shoot up. The law of supply and demand defies dictatorship. Ask Robert Mugabe.

  85. A 50kg bag of maize gives u about 36kg of breakfast meal. Add to this labour, electricity, packaging, distribution, etc.

    • You are spot on! And the impact of the increased minimum wage, detoriorated exchange rate and gloomy sentiment due to poor governance all these add up to the cost of the final output. You cannot legislate prices; economics defies dictatorship. The Soviet Union and Cuba are a shinning example of what price controls cannot achieve or rather can achieve: total economic ruin as in neighbouring Zimbabwe, I abhour socialism and commandist economics!!!

  86. #84 spot on,in addition the govt also pays transport for the bags to move from remote areas to provincial centres the transport cost is huge.Avoid insults and lets blog objectively.We have enough maize in the country but the recent demand in congo is due to SA not supplying maize to congo.Govt dialoged with millers with no answers but the sudden removal of subsidy caused the sharp increase in prices from $140 to $225 causing millers to loose some profit cushion.There is need to talk more.

  87. My humble question is: has anyone in history managed to suppress prices when the supply of disposable income (money supply) increases in an economy. We recently had an increase of money in hands of mealie meal consumers through the minimum wage. But there has been no increase in the productive capacity of the economy. The Kwacha has devalued by more than 25% in past one year. Compatriots, I ask. Can anyone, however powerful they are, manage to suppress price increases. In particular price increase of mealie meal given the shortage of maize. Tell me.

    • man you are a big liar on this site. You think you are talking to dull people who think they are educated and yet they are not? here has the kwacha depreciated by 25 %? Mmm guys, dont justify the exploitation of the poor by these useless millers.  You are a disgrace toZambians man….shaaa.

  91. may the messiah come i,m fed up with this type of politics in zambia i voted for PF thinking they will be different. Now i suspect even HH will be the same.cant trust any politician now they are all the same

  92. Sata will surprise many people including macchipazi an animal in eastern province of foudation of education process (FODEP), people in luwingu are happy with the awarding of luwingu mansa road to china henani. we are seek and tired of reading zambian politics we want to see work. politic will start in 2015 where people will allowed to sale their manifesto. m****** mwe

  93. Totally incoherent. Decree after decree. We are now back to holding Press Conferences on “mealie meal”  Ubufontini Bakateka bwachila….

  94. sata missed alot in school….i guess he was a holigan…very talkative….lacks logical thinking….doesnt kno his right from left….wakes up from a dream and feels like he can change his mistakes in a second…..old man u are no longer thinking straight…give room to the younger generation whose brain cells are still functional to move the country forward…..need to be in a hospital to be treated for madness

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