Government has suspended the export of maize and maize products until the status of the food security within the country has been verified, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Robert Sichinga has said.
Mr Sichinga announced ban yesterday and said that all export permits issued by the Ministry of Agriculture for maize and maize products including mealie meal have been revoked with immediate effect.
Mr Sichinga said investigation conducted within the Ministry and by the Police had indicated that there were weaknesses and questionable procedures being practiced in the Ministry over the issuance of export licenses.
“Following a number of concerns on the national food security situation that have been raised by various stakeholders, I wish to announce that it is clear from the investigations carried out so far by police and within my Ministry that there are weaknesses and questionable procedures being practiced in this Ministry over issuance of export licenses, arising from the forgoing, I have decided to suspend export of maize and maize products with immediate effect” he said.
[pullquote]Mr Sichinga assured that Government to Government exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe would not be affected by the ban.[/pullquote]
He said further investigation had been instituted to get to the root cause and warned that any officer who would be found wanting will be dealt with according to the findings on the offence committed.
Mr Sichinga however said traders who have already loaded trucks in readiness for export will be allowed to complete their transaction upon verification by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
Mr Sichinga assured that Government to Government exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe would not be affected by the ban.
RB has gone with the bumper harvest.
govt of f0015,voted by f0015,run by f0015.
Crazy leaders……
Ni chi Flag chakwisa ichi mumpele???? Ku Chinsali nako kwaliba Flag????
Stupid leaders, they sell Mugabe maize and deplete stocks thereby starve nationals.
Zambians in Govt., mistreating Zambian Population.
BUT WHY? I THOUGHT THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN ANALYSED OVER OVER AGAIN STARTING FROM THE ARMY WORM ATTACKS ALL OVER ZED………………….. ANYWAY LET US WAIT AND SEE HOW WE WE SHALL STARVE WITHOUT RELIEF MAIZE
wats the deference betwin gvt 2 gvt and otha exports? Is it not the same comodity wich z going out the country?
WHY CAN’T WE TRY WINTER MAIZE MWE BANTU.. HOW I MISS LEVY ON THIS ONE. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE. HE WAS A PROPER REPUBLICAN MANAGER OF ZED
Hunger is looming in our country this year for various reasons some of which include the army worm attack and late planting due to late coming of rains/ dry spell experienced by the country for the past 8 weeks. I fully support the suspension of the exports.
Oh dear! Clueless PF are at it again! When a person starts overanalysing a situation that is usually an indication of failure. We’ve had all types of ‘PF solutions’ over this maize issue. PF has allowed the export of maize. PF has controlled the price of maize for the first time since 1991. PF has blamed millers for the shortage and high prices of mealie meal. PF has claimed that there’s enough maize and the shortage is artificial and blamed forces working with the opposition. PF has blamed smugglers for the shortage. Now PF has stopped the export of maize. And PF now wants to find out how much maize there is in Zambia. PF has failed!
Hahaha this is a government of clowns Zo ona. Guy Scot just mentioned the other day that there was more that enough maize in reserves so people shouldn’t worry about Government selling to other Governments.
Bushe who is really in a good position to tell us about food security in our Country? Vice Presido said we have enough so do not worry. Agric Minister says we are not sure so we suspend exports!!! what is the real situation please?????
Zambia deserves better.
Useless Havard graduate ,true copy and paste chap.
He is one of the very few ministers in Sata’s circus who seems to have a head and is capable of using it!
no sign of the devil in China,no news about him only Julia Gillard and other Asian leaders not dirty jokers and beggars.
Of course Bob Sichinga is trying hard to tell the truth from the time he alarmed the nation that MMD had illegally printed K3Trillion Kwacha. The truth is PF is ladden with ignorance and greedy. When Miles Sampa says we are in a hurry to develop, he means they are in a hurry to steal. It is apparent that there is no maize to export looking at the poor harvest that is anticipated. Therefore it is right to stop exports, even the govt to govt ones until such a time we are sure that smuggling has been contained, empirical evidence shows we have enough stocks to take us to this time next year. Guy Scott is a useless Chola boy indeed and a disgrace to his fellow Bazungu. He was the hope of PF but has turned out to be a fool.
Does the minister mean he has no clue of the maize stocks
It is very surprising that Bob Sichinga has suspended maize exports when all along the PF have been assuring us that we have more than enough maize stocks to last us up to the next harvest. Gay Scott also assured the people in Kapiri that there was enough maize to last until the next harvest. It is now confusing because we do not know who is telling the truth. One wonders what is discussed in their cabinet meetings and whether they even have these meetings. Why should there be conflicting statements from people who both belong to cabinet? So, what is the true position regarding the maize stocks in Zambia? Please someone from government tell the nation the truth. This politicking will not help the situation; in any case you are just demonstrating how disorganised the government is.
I guess it is a case of guy scott against bob sichinga. Let us wait and see.
RESULTS of Poor LEADERSHIP. HOW CAN WE HAVE SHORTAGES when we had bumper harvest?? FRA are useless, Let Its management be fired??
There is a lot of slow thinking in this government.
I can believe Bob Sichinga but NEVER EVER believe what Guy Scott says – he is usually clueless even on obvious things BUT just yaps and the poorpeople believe him because he is white! In fact Scott is the biggest liar…more than most black ministers
UTULIBA! So bena bakulalila muli “Government to Government”, twalimishiba ba mambala!
And am sure we’ll be seeing these ” trucks ALREADY LOADED FOR EXPORT…” for the next 6 months…
Too many deputies distort the data. Just like too many cooks spoil the soup.
I feel sorry for the the agric minister,its a bad time when the region is depending on zambian maize hence demand is high,the tv announcement was not neccessary just tell your PS amd his fired friends not to issue permits and do recons quietly, Govt to Govt deals leave out your electorates in bussiness where is your intrest in these deals? PF please wake up…
No matter how many times you reshuffle the dog-eared cards in a deck they will still be the same poor quality. Here is one true example Bob Schinga a completely useless character just last week he stated (Daily Mail) that GRZ will start exporting maize to reduce/prevent smuggling and that there is more than enough maize in reserves. They will continue making double u-turns as they don’t have an idea what’s happening on the ground.
FRA is in shambles and nobody wants to look at reform till the end of the year again, just like no one is interested in sorting out the drainage in our cities till the rainy season. Its just a vicious cycle.
..and if there will be no food shortage, (not this artificial one), what will you all say?
FRA was not in shambles when either Dr Mwanaumo or Dr Malambo were heading the institution. These two guys were Agricultural specialists. I do not know anything about the guy who is currently the Director or what his profile is. This is the problem of firing professional people and replacing them with cadres mainly on nepotistic and tribal grounds. Pathetic!
The reality is now the whole SADC region is dependent on Zambian maize and grain. Therefore, no Govt official will have correct stock figures because every one in Zambia at all levels is involved in ilegal export and that can’t be contained by any body. The more police men you send the more they join the band wagon. The only way forward is to remove all those street vendors and so called political party youths and cadres from streets, markets, bus stations, sex workers and engage them in farming which is the only profitable sector in the country and world at the moment. Ensure that the proceeds from farming are channelled into agriculture industry but not polygamy and enjoyment industry as is the practice now. There should be one exporter only, disciplined FRA not current management.
Yaba I thought this was just on watch dog even here now people can see that pathetic fools have failed guy scotch whiskey has no idea of what’s going on he uses his racist color to intimidate poor people not all of us are respect your kind you may act as president one day but you ll never be zambian and you ll never be a zambian president for the first time i support the idea of leaving eddy lungi as acting president I can imagine the damage you d do if left in power
All this from the pfool who said mealie-meal shortages were due to ‘lack of capacity from millers’.
Someone is not doing his job here. These Ministers just bonk each other whole day long. Can’t this confused Sichinga for once tell the nation what is going on?
God are you there to let your children suffer? Even the Bishops like Mpundu are not being helpful because they also eat from the Devil’s agent
Ah, it is weekend, so there is not court case to distract the issues affecting pf. All those who enjoy saying wonderful things about pf are eagerly awaiting the next sitting so that such mundane issues like meal shortages that can cause them (pf) problems are temporarily put to the back burner. It would be great if the RB’s cases were speeded up and concluded so that people can then concentrate on pf’s failures (zero success from my last count) properly.
PF sucks!
I thought Sichinga gave us figures the other week, which indicated that we had alot of maize in the country. Cry my beloved country