Sub Chief Musengo of Kasama District says his area faces starvation next year as Government has not delivered farming inputs to his area.
And FDD President Edith Nawakwi has charged that Republican President Edgar Lungu does not understand that mealie meal comes from growing maize as opposed to hammer mills which he wants to litter the country with.
Speaking when opposition FDD President Edith Nawakwi paid a courtesy call on him, the sub Chief said his community depends on farming but families face starvation because Government has not delivered farming inputs while the rains have already started.
“Investing in Agriculture has become a challenge especially when farming inputs are been delivered late and the cost of farming inputs are extremely high. My people here face hunger because the PF Government has not delivered any inputs and as can see the rains have started,” The traditional leader charged.
He also complained that Sub Chiefs had been sidelined by government as the y are not given anything like chiefs adding that life had become extremely hard for traditional leaders.
He further bemoaned the lack of infrastructure in his area saying the area had just one school and a small clinic which only operated until 16 hours.
Meanwhile FDD President Edith Nawakwi said she was not surprised that Government has failed to deliver farming inputs to the people up to now because the head of state and his ministers lacked the capacity to understand anything to do with Agriculture.
The opposition President who is in Northern Province to help the party conduct ward conferences said it was clear that President Lungu thinks that mealie-meal comes from hammer mills as demonstrated by his importation of 2000 hammer mills from China.
She explained that if the President understood that mealie meal comes from growing maize he would have supported small scale farmers with inputs as opposed to giving them milling plants further wondering where they will get the maize to grind in their “white elephants” of milling plants.
“Ba Lungu thinks mealie meal comes from hammer meals that’s why he has gone to China and brought hammer meals because if he understood that the process that ends up as mealie meal starts with a farmer planting maize. If this Government understood anything about running the Agriculture sector that’s why they think mealie meal comes from ifgayo hence the importation of the useless mealing plants.”
She further charged the mealing plants are a ploy to buy votes in 2016 using mealie meal to bribe voters in villages and towns.
“We know that the PF want to use mealie meal to buy votes that is why they want keep our people hungry deliberately but they should know that a hungry is an angry man hence the PF should realize that the people of Zambia can not be bought which his mentor Rupiah Banda can attest,” she said.
Later Ms. Nawakwi opened Kasenga ward conference were she called on members to vigorously recruit new members and ensure that the party grows beyond old members.
She said the PF Government should not be allowed to go beyond 2016 because they have destroyed the country and that allowing them to continue would be destroying the future of children.
Excellent that you are educating them on agriculture Madam Nawakwi. The costs of seeds and fertiliser are way too high for the peasant farmers. The value of hammer mills won’t be not be realised as long as there are maize seeds to grind. It’s good that people like you are out there educating the PF govt.
The issue of bunga and how to tackle the prices depends on production cost. For PF they think production cost is at the milling stage only. However, the real production cost is at the farming stage, one wonders who advises PF? How can a party expose the poor to this level of suffering without plans to protect the vulnerable in society? PF is not aware that the function of govt is to correct market failures, like in this case address the issue of farming inputs cost effectively.
Madam Nawakwi. These should be special hammer mills that commits proper breakfast,roller meal,sample etc.You don’t need a farmer anywhere near for what?
Point of correction.I meant special grinding mills that vomits proper breakfast,roller meal,sample etc not commits
Ba Elias Chipimo and Mulongoti, where are u? Your friends are mobilising.
They’ll appear a month or so before elections, especially ka Chipimo and Miyanda
Chicken and egg. Obviously those who cannot reason will sea reason in Nawaki’s statement. It is but all politics, these politicians are the same they like vultures waiting for a carcass to salvage. Nawakwi thinks that as long as there is maize then automatically there is mealie meal of course everyone knows that mealie meal is from maize just like there has always been copper underground but as long as we do not invest in extraction it will remain in the ground. What ECL is saying let there be GMILLS so that the difference in price between what farmers are paid and what they pay for maize meal is reasonable. Small scall Farmers are paid K65 for 50kg maize, the miller sells a 25 kg maize meal at K100 how sad! With more millers this situation will not arise. Madam Nawakwi that is the…
you also thinks the same way as those you mocking. the price of mealie meal is up withe miller because its not only maize involved in the production of bunga ubututu. as long as the prices of other contributing factors are high bunga will be high. so it narrows down to what Nawakwi is saying you can have vigayo but fuel cost is high eletricity tariffs as well and load sheding u end up with white elephants. why did the privatize these vigayo do research?
I’m not sure which country you live in but most of these folks don’t buy breakfast mealie mill from shops like you urbanites, they take their own maize to the local chigayo and charged per meda (gallon), a minimal charge I should add. Therefore Lungus China mill have no bearing on their livelihood, all that concerns them is having that maize in their sheds at the end of the harvest.
Comment:those are solar milling plants please,have data before u post yo nonsense, so far they have opened 32 milling plants in northern province and per bag is k4o
Northern province of course…..
Accusing the drunk of thinking is actually an insult to normal human beings. Anyone who thinks wouldn’t send someone like Chomba to a sensitive ministry of Energy at a sensitive time like this.
Alikwisa Driver?
Haleisa, Haleisa
Via HH
What about the matrix of plunder led by Mulenga Sata?