opening of the first joint Pan-African Grain Legume and World Cowpea
Conference currently being held at AVANI Victoria Falls Hotel. Picture
by Jeffrey Oliver
Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda has told a media briefing that the millers whose contracts have been terminated and blacklisted include one from Lusaka, two from central province and one from Northern Province.
He said that the millers have been transporting mealie meal to border towns with the intention of exporting the mealie meal in breach of the contract terms.
Mr. Lubinda has since warned other millers against breaching the terms of the contracts signed with the FRA or risk having their contracts terminated and blacklisted for two years.
Mr. Lubinda said that government has seized the 28 trucks marooned at Mwami border laden with maize destined for export without export permits.
And preliminary investigations of the 28 trucks each laden with 1,200 bags of maize which are marooned at Mwami Border Post in Chipata District of Eastern Province reveals that they have no proper documentations.
Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo told a media briefing in his office in Chipata on Wednesday that preliminary investigations have revealed that the trucks which were enroute to Malawi had no proper documentations.
Mr Kasolo said the investigations wings were still investigating the matter so that a final conclusion could be arrived at.
“The preliminary investigations over the 28 trucks intercepted at Mwami Border have revealed that they had no documentations to allow their exit. The trucks will be at the border until a final conclusion over the matter,” he said.
He said he would not allow the trucks to exit the country until proper documentation by the company in question present proper documentations.
“But again if I have noticed that the province needs the same maize I will not allow the maize to be taken to another place but to be given to Eastern Province,” he said.
Mr Kasolo said he would follow the directives given to him by Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda to ensure that the impounded maize did not leave the border until investigations were concluded.
He also said Petauke District was apportioned with more than 800 metric tonnes under the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) because of the hunger situation in the area.
Mr Kasolo said relief food in Petauke was being distributed by Redcross and Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN).
He said they would be no one who is going to die from hunger in the province because of the measures which had put up by the Government.
He said similarly other districts in the province have been given relief food for the benefits of the people.
Mr Kasolo has also castigated some local contractors for underperforming of works in various infrastructure developments.
He said some contractors who were being given contractors by the Government had done shoddy in which he declared that his office is not going to pay such people.
Mr Kasolo has also assured people who would be removed on farm 8890 because Government would be given land.
He said the Government would use the land for putting up of the commercial milling plant by the Zambia National Service (ZNS) under the Presidential Initiative programme.
He said even Chief Chinyaku of the Ngoni people had also given the people a green light to the people who were occupying the land.
Free trade. Let them sale where they can make money. Those are not controlled substances.
To Lubinda: si maize ya anyoko.
#ChagwaMustFall
FREE MARKET YES. BUT A CONTRACT IS AN AGREEMENT WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
Good job. Send it to Livingstone.
Upnd tricks creating artificial shotages
@Aluta contos, very strong accusation there. If you have evidence why not provide it to the law enforcement agencies? You dont have it, do you? Remember that you will be held to account for any slanderous accusations you make against your brothers and sisters.
Government terminates contracts and blacklists 4 milling companies for mealie meal smuggling
which companies are those pleas., are they UPND ???
I presume it’s that uncivilised Jack ass who’s been going around claiming he’s so rich and that he’s responsible for putting PF in pole position and forming Government
Why is there no National Milling Company “Breakfast”, in major out lets ? Have their stopped producing this ?
These chaps will soon bring back kaunda’s coupons, one bag for a family per month, just watch them closely.
Which milling companies are these? Will you please give us more data? I thought it’s a liberalized economy. Sell where you will make profit.
Back to UNIP days of smuggling, we truly going backwards. They will still take chances to smuggle mealie meal, I will do the same too, just come up
With good policies and have a vision
Tell us the names of the companies that have been black listed.if not then it is just politics.even if it is liberalized economy the government must come in to control the flow of business in the country.or else Zambia can be like an animal farm.
With PF “delinquent leadership” you run out of food and blame the innocent entrepreneurs.
Voters need to do something this August and get rid of the menacing “pests family” PF
The news is half baked, name the milling companies and the owner/s of the trucks
The companies are GBM milling, choma milling …
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What contracts?…..is he lying about this time?
GOOD THESE *****S WANT TO MAKE FOOD SHORTAGE
These are upnd schemes to mop up grain on the local market through exports and create artificial shortages and spike the price all in the hope of creating consumer discontent and, of course, point at government lapses. We know your chicanery up N down demagogues!!!
This is a great business opportunity if our neighbours need so much mealie meal then we need to increase our production of maize and more production of the product to export to these countries. Government needs to do more in terms of attracting more people to plant maize so that the bumper harvest can actually translate to more export of bother maize itself and mealie meal and abundance of food within the country. Now is the bumper harvest real that the government earlier announced? if it was real then this selling of maize to other countries shouldn’t have been a problem to the extent of wanting to put controls..
This is a great business opportunity if our neighbours need so much mealie meal then we need to increase our production of maize and more production of the product to export to these countries. Government needs to do more in terms of attracting more people to plant maize so that the bumper harvest can actually translate to more export of both maize itself and mealie meal and abundance of food within the country. Now is the bumper harvest real that the government earlier announced? if it was real then this selling of maize to other countries shouldn’t have been a problem to the extent of wanting to put controls..
Soon or later we are going to have riots over mealie meal in this country. Mark my words its too much now with the pf govt.