PRESIDENT Lungu has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to immediately suspend the export of maize and mealie-meal until Zambia takes stock of the food reserves following the dry spell experienced in some parts of the country.
And the President has revealed that mealie prices had gone up because grain marketers and ZNFU members who have stocks of maize have been selling at export price to the millers and the millers who in turn hiked the price.
He said there was need to halt exports of grain and mealie meal to ensure the nation had enough food stocks to ensure food security.
“Not even mealie-meal will be exported for the time being.
We want to suspend the export of mealie-meal and maize until we take stock of what we have in terms of food security,” President Lungu said.
President Lungu said this yesterday in Chisamba when he graced the sixth Agritech expo themed,” growing knowledge of the future” which attracted 223 exhibitors and 19 countries. Mr Lungu also gave Minister of Agriculture Michael Katambo three days to pay all farmers for the maize they supplied to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
He said he had noted with sadness that farmers who supplied maize to FRA last year were not yet paid and directed Mr Katambo to pay them by Tuesday next week.
Why is the same mistake made each year? We go from boasting about harvest to distributing relief food within some weeks.
Useless President….you have all the money full in your pocket whilst the majority of Zambians are starving iwe mambala…Jail is waiting for you in 2021
HH, with valid reasons advised against sale of maize weeks ago. Edgar overruled and has come back to eat his own vomit. What wrong did we do to deserve such a mediocre guy for president?
Insala ngayafulisha, ilaleta umusebanya
So his ministers are robots that can’t think on their own. They are supposed to wait for Lungu to press the button. And he does this via the media not in his cabinet meetings
PRESIDENT Lungu has directed. President Lungu has directed. President Lungu has directed.
LT sort out your websites …too many pop up ads
This is what happens when you have vision less leaders. No direction at all.
Flip flopping president.
God Bless Zambia
HH advised the government not to export the maize, but the government turned a blind. This a stupidity of Zambian politics.
@Jay Jay,
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These are political gimmicks.The President knows that farmers have not been paid because his treasury is empty. The President should direct the Minister of Finance to release money to pay farmers and not issue unfair and empty public ultimatums to a wrong minister (agriculture). PF ministers and MPs must be extremely cautious with ECL. As 2021 approaches and the PF government gets more unpopular, he will use them as scapegoats and sacrificial lambs for his leadership failures and dump them. ECL has cleverly sacrificed politically castrated Chitotela by prosecuting him for corruption jointly committed. Lives of majority of Zambians have become a daily struggle for survival and someone has to pay the political price in 2021.Roan is just a reminder of things to come.
Do you remember a few weeks ago?
UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema has urged the PF Government to rescind its decision on the export of mealie meal.
Mr. Hichilema says it is only logical for the PF leadership to rescind this decision until such a time when Zambia will be certain that people have and will have enough food to even export the surplus.
He said most maize fields have dried up a sign that poverty levels will escalate to unprecedented levels in the country.
He noted that the country is facing unprecedented social, economic and political problems and there is need to quickly find a permanent solution to these challenges and the solutions is having a caring and credible leadership.
The Ministry of Agriculture last week lifted the ban on the export of mealie meal with immediate…
What did we say two months ago? He was happy to lift ban then without taking stock….when it was clear that inputs were delivered late; I said this that PF will quickly rush out FRA stockpiles to line their pockets….then ban it after they have eaten enough meanwhile geniue businesses will caught out at the border with their customers maize.
And that is the sad reality,with PF even this trade on maize is dominated by ministers and cadres like kamba, meanwhile they have destroyed agriculture these people should answer for this greed…
Were not these people warned that stocks of maize were inadequate but they, as udusl, put up a spirited poor argument? Why they font listen time and again?
They wont listen to anyone especially when there is opportunity to line their pockets …this is the norm with these thieves they rule by directives as logic is non existent
Finally HH advise taken.
Let’s just liberalize the Maize market! Abolish FISP so that farmers learn the importance of self-sufficiency! We should have no export bans every now and then. FRA should be the one to ensure food reserves are adequate for local consumption but allow farmers to access the export market!
Just stop being reliant on maize meal…diversify your diet..maize is an expensive crop to grow and abused by govts
Why did the minister say that we had enough stocks and exporting same will have no effect on the local market? He even assured us that all stakeholders were engaged and they approved the export of maize and mealie meal. Do these guys know what they are doing?
That’s because these people have no integrity..telling lies is the norm…just last week they were distributing relief maize in Roan and justifying it!!
Slow to react as always effects of excessive intake of alcohol
#1.2 Obatala & #5 Triple K, I wouldn’t say that Trib.al Hacks knew what he was talking about. If the President had said then, don’t export maize Trib.al Hacks would have been first to oppose with “good reasons”. Look here trib.als, no sensible Zambian can take Trib.al Hacks seriously, so if he says anything chances are 99% tathat it is political and si.lly. And so if the 1% chance is correct, chances are 99% that it is accidental. How can you listen to, or even quote Trib.al Hacks? Go back to 2006 and handover leadership of upnd to the correct person.
Cader……Hehehehe licking your own vomit I see…..it was you most dismissive of the warnings by HH about exporting maize ……
MMM His Excellency, has Katambo money? Where have you been all along Sir?? Please tell Mwanakatwe to release money to Katambo so that he pays the farmers.
As for the Presidential directive wasn’t there a ban on exports of maize in place which your government lifted barely four weeks ago? Are you now saying that the government did not assess a critical matter like the food security situation even just thinking about it if you have no capacity to assess? Are we safe?
Sometimes I wonder what sort of morons we have in cabinet who can’t resign when they are belittled in public like that? When their advice if any is ignored until the boss re-issues the same advice in form of directives.
Like, Minister (in cabinet meeting) : “Your Excellency, I want to order books for primary schools”.
Boss (at public function): “I direct you to order books for primary schools”.
Your president and his ministers are all dull mune.
Lungu is clueless ……..I saw him at the agriculture show congratulating South African importers of simple farming implements…….instead of insisting that those implements be made in Zambia, lungu was busy showering praise on the importers ……….
..
Even simple reasoning can tell you how
Do you sell maize when there is drought
As they say it’s chipantepante decisions.
Even HH advised but was not taken.
This government it is like they can not see that last farming season was bad, this year is also bad. It’s like they are all confused.
Maybe its time our young ones enjoyed USAID yellow maize this year like we did because of these reckless fooools…American farmers will be more than happy to offload that grain for profit in the name of charity!!
Stop recruiting Kacasu Presidents.
This guy is wasting our time mwee!
In the same spirit Bwana Lungu stop exporting Zambia’s little forex with your very frequent foreign trips. Zambia’s reserves have dipped very low to just $1bn.
It was just a gimmick that’s the money they used for there campaigns why lift the ban when there’s bye elections and stop immediately after
They have already exported their stocks
.
Very good at criticizing but very poor at giving adverse,critcits of the day.