Opposition Forum for Democracy and Development President Edith Nawakwi has called on the ruling Patriotic Front Government to stop mocking small scale farmers in the country with their “high moisture content” excuse for not buying their maize.
And the opposition leader says economic decentralization is key to reducing poverty and corruption in the country.
Speaking when she addressed scores of officials from the Movement for Multi-party Democracy, United Party for National Development and the ruling Patriotic Front who defected to her party Ms. Nawakwi said the PF should stop cheating farmers across the country but instead confess that they don’t have money to pay the farmers for their produce.
Ms. Nawakwi wondered why there is still high moisture content in the maize when farmers have always sold their produce in May or June hence the story of high moisture is a fabrication of lies concocted by government to deceive the farmers.
“This Government should not be lying to you that your maize has high moisture content; why should your maize have high moisture content when we didn’t have enough rains? Why should your maize have high moisture when it wasn’t very cold this year? These people do not have money to pay you that the reason they are telling that.
“These people have a problem; they deliver inputs late and when they deliver the inputs they give you in gallons what can you do with a gallon of fertilizer? Now they announce that they will start purchasing maize on 1st July but because they don’t have money they start lying that maize has high moisture content. Where have you head of high moisture content in August?” Wondered the opposition leader who spoke in the local language.
She added “these people want to buy your maize in September when it is too dry and light so that they get a lot of maize at a cheap price because your 50KGs won’t being weighing that much in September.”
And the opposition leader has observed country can only develop and significantly reduce poverty as well as corruption if economic and resource disbursement decisions is taken to the grassroots.
Ms. Nawakwi said her party believes that economic decentralization is key to realizing the country’s full developmental potential.
She said by decentralizing the disbursement of funds locals will be participating in the developmental agenda as well as channeling funds to the needed areas in there respective districts as opposed to a person seated in Lusaka deciding for the majority.
Ms. Nawakwi explained their party manifesto clearly indicates how money will be shared among districts so that people in respective districts decide collectively on what is needed and how it should be implemented.
Meanwhile Eastern Province PF provincial and Katete District Executive committee, MMD Sinda Constituency Chairperson and his counterpart from the UPND together with their Executive committees have ditched their parties for the FDD.
The officials said the had decided to renounce their parties because FDD offered new hope for the country under the leadership of Ms. Nawakwi who is a mature politician and understands the challenges that the country is going through.
I agree with Madam Nawakwi on govt not been honest in this year maize purchasing. first we were told of a bumper harvest which cant be seen as fewer & fewer people are seen queue up to sell their maize. Even the Kasumbalesa market cant receive much maize. why cant we revert to namboard. where market was provided for crops grown, either market permiting or not. They do this world over. In America they buy butter from diary farmers & jetson it in the sea. just to protect diary farmers. In canada wheat farmers are protected by buying off their wheat and provide economic market price & export the excess on subsidized rates. why not in Zambia. Thats why we ve been sending money for fertilizer to our folks for years without them graduating & buy from the previous sell.
This government does not understand what they talk about, they give small scale farmers 2 x 50 kg of fertilizers and expect them to graduate and be independent to finance their next requirement. How possible is it, it no wonder poverty is still very high among the rural poor. its perpetuated by Govt itself for there selfish need for votes. The general standard is 8 x 50kg bags of fertilizer per hectare and one farmer would roughly need to grow 4 ha to have food security and sales for other basic needs per year and so at least 32 bags of fertilizer not 2.
Use the technocrats in the Ministry of Agriculture you political fools. I totally agree with Nawakwi GOVT is fooling small scale farmers.
its not easy to be in government ,talking is simple than doing . and anyone could talk ‘ yes i can ‘. dont kubeba!