The opposition UPND says it will target to reduce the price of a 25kg bag of mealie meal by below K50 when it forms government.
UPND President Hakainde Hichilema said his government will target to cut mealie meal prices with its agriculture policies.
Mr Hichilema said there is need for urgent measures to address the escalating prices of mealie meal, cooking oil and other essential commodities.
“The current prices are way out of hand and completely unaffordable by the majority of our citizens, especially with the current high rate of unemployment in the country,” Mr Hichilema said.
The UPND leader said blaming adverse weather conditions is merely a convenient way of avoiding the problem.
“There are countries that are deserts, but their citizens are far much better in terms of living conditions because they rightly invested in correct projects,” he said.
“For example, we have been talking about creating more water harvesting mechanisms such as dams, canals, boreholes, etc to make farming an all year round activity, than waiting for rains.”
Mr Hchilema said farming and related activities from crops to livestock can employ a lot of people directly and indirectly through value addition industries, while ensuring there is available and affordable food in the country.”
He said these are the kind of investments Zambia should promote as they touch a great majority of the people.
“Our target with our agriculture policies is to make sure a 25kg bag of mealie meal is kept at K50 or below. This is about survival of our people,” he said.
It’s free to dream
Trying to buy votes with cheap policies
I believe him.
Thanks
BB2014,2016
He makes sense. We need someone with ambition and vision to better our economy.
@Muzo Dreaming shows someone is alive and full of life however others don’t even have a free dream.
For your own information alien double h in case you didn’t know Government is already at it – water harvesting by building dams.
Though ECL continues to preach diversification of the economy via agriculture, I haven’t seen a policy towards that. I hear that it’s in the 7thNDP which I must confess I have not read fully.
You double h could be a couple of steps out’a tune with the happenings in the land.
I feel though that ECL’s Ministers in Agriculture and Live Stock needs to up the game.
Let’s also understand the implications of Government’s all out -direct – involvement in Agriculture as it relates to the position and disposition of our loved farmers.
If only wishes were horses.
Zambians have head such lies before. From Kaunda’s egg-a-day, to Chiluba’s the hour has come, levy’s real deal & more money in your pocket. All these lies Zambians themselves were or are still left poorer. So this lie of first telling farmers that you will pay them more that K115 for 50kg bag of maize & now blinding Zambians that K50 for mealie meal is a lie.
You and I can agree that the price of mealie meal is too high, its a fact.
That other countries which are mostly deserted live much better lives than 95% of Zambian, its a fact.
So what is cheap politics here?
A person like you who do not accept those two facts above, isn’t you who is playing cheap PF politics?
If we tell you Double H is a Joker, please take me seriously
A price of K115 per 25kg is ideal if this money was going to the farmers not some middle man who doesn’t even eat nsima. Zambians are willing to pay high prices for DSTV repeats but double H thinks keeping the farmers in poverty is the way statehouse. Laughable
HH…..please sit down…haven’t you learned anything sensible in your 6 times losing streak…HH still sounds like he just started politics yesterday…No serious opposition in Zambia no wonder PF bandits will rule for a very long time
The starting point in reducing the price of mealie meal is price reduction of raw materials in the production of mealie meal which is maize. The same 5 time loser is busy inciting farmers to reject the K110 per 50kg bag of maize saying it is too low. How do you increase the price of raw materials but expect a reduction in the price of the output?
Am now convinced HH enjoys losing elections….still toying with voters like what Sata did….90 days more money in your pocket…now HH its mealie meal and free education….yaba hallucinating at its best….looks like PF bandits will be with us for a very long time indeed…sad
Zambians still believe in ‘It can’t be done.’ Even our youth who are in the computer age still want to rely on imports. When a president makes a pronouncement like ‘we will build dams’, we want him also to till the land and plant the crops for us while watch. Most of our youth don’t want to work in farms but mostly want to have office jobs were they can sit in front of a computer and wait for the end of month salary.
Chama Chakomboka promises. HH is too desperate.
And how much will the farmers be selling their maize for you to reduce a 25kg bag of mealie meal to less than K50?
Please break down all the steps of how you will do this rather than issueing a blank statement without any substance to back it up.
Will you cut off all taxes on agricultural inputs, will you reduce electricity tarriffs on millers, will you support and encourage more agro dealerships to set up in rural areas, will you allow, encourage and facilitate Zambian Cooperatives to export their maize to neighbouring countries? What exactly will you do sir, explain!
Bufi ubukulu nganshi ba HH. Just be realistic otherwise these are Donald Trump lies
Yeah HH will also make Zambia launch a rocket to moon when he’s elected.When will Zambian politicians stop toying and gambling with voter’s lives?
When you vote for me, I will make sure each man has 10 wives to end infidelity among men. Vote for my party
Only when you vote for me I will start selling my meat at k5 per kg says Kachema. HH should show what he can do for the people now. He should start by paying his own worker decent salaries. Return what he stole from privatization.
HH stop lying. Your motivation is profit like all business people.
You will never rule Zambia until u bring back the money you have taken out of Zambia.
U have no shame seriously of taking money out when people u want to rule are suffering and our half baked Zambian journalists have failed by not asking u serious questions.
Wishful thinking. Is he going manufucture fertilizer with his s@t@n1sm powers. The price of fertilizer is too high.
We now know this quack Kaponya. He can sell his own daughters just to enter State House.
30th August , 2021 news headlines:
“HH and Running Mate Nkombo to Petition Election Results”
Hakainde Hichilema, 7 time losing candidate of general elections has claimed that his victory was stolen in the just ended polls…
Wishf00l thinking indeed and the followers of the demigod believe. Zambians should stop relying on politicians to better their lives. I do not remember the last time a bought a bag of mealie meal because I grow my own maize. If 50% of Zambians did the same without even waiting for governments for inputs who is going to sale the commodity at k120? HH will take advantage for anything to take him to plot one and for someone who has been spending money campaigning for the past 20 years you have to be an 1d1ot to believe he will spend his first years in office saving the people.
What about the crimes against humanity which Milupi said were 95% complete for submitting to the International Courts?
Since when did the price of mealie meal go down in Zambia and sorrounding neighbours? Mealie meal have been increasing since Kaunda error. I wonder how HH got his degree? With mealie meal prices as higher as k400 per 25kg bag in some of our neighbouring countries like Angola and Namibia, smugglers would wipe out our mealie meal stocks overnight if the price dropped to k50. This will result in artificial shottege if mealie meal as it was in Kaunda era. Zambian is not an island. We are affected by what happens in other countries around us. Only upnd blind followers would buy into hh’s lies..!!! Mealie meal prices will never go down unless all our neighbours and food secure…
THIS IS PROBLEM WITH ZAMBIAN POLITICS THE PROMISES WITH RESPECT MR H.H MR ECL AND MR KAMBWILI. NOW THAT IT’S ELECTION TIME YOU WANT TO PROMISE THE VOTERS EVERTHING THAT YOU KNOW WE CAN’T HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE FOR. WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL REDUCE THE PRICE OF MEALIE MEAL WHAT WE HEAR IS WE VOTE FOR YOU AND TOMORROW YOU REDUCE BUT THE TRUTH IS YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE ECONOMY REDUCE THE COST OF MANUFACTURING OF THE MEALIE MEAL AND THAT’S NOT A ONE DAY THING AND THAT CAN TAKE YEARS OR YOU MAY NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE IT IN YOUR TERM. BUT THE REASON WHY YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT YOU WANT TO CHEAT US INTO THINKING IT’S THAT EASY BE REAL WITHWITH US. AND MR LUNGU DON’T REDUCE PRICES OF ANY COMMODITIES BECAUSE OF
ELECTIONS TO LOOK GOOD THEN FAIL TO SUSTAIN IT BECAUSE IT’S NOT PRACTICE BE…
He incites farmers to reject k110 per 50kg maize saying the govt offer is too small
Then he tells consumers to expect k50 for a 25kg bag
How much will he pay farmers for a 50kg bag of maize.
We need a medical board to examine his mental fitness
The reason huge followers is because of tribe. They dont even analyse his logic.
They just analyse his TRIBE
levy did , from k85 to k40
Fake information/news
Hahahahahahaha! We are running out of comedians an addition of just one more like HH would improve the numbers. This man never ceases to amuse me. One would really not know where to place him. At one time he behaves like a shallow politician at another he behaves like a comedian who thinks Zambians would be amused by the yesteryear politics, under-five politician indeed. Even Kapenta s are lounging at his statements.
how much is he going to pay to the farmer?it’s only through subsidies it can work.He is a joker.When govt buys at K2.2 per kg from farmers he complains that the price is too low.How can you bring the price low if the raw materials are expensive?Let us be real guys
How much is he going to pay the farmer?it’s only through subsidies it can work.He is a joker.When govt buys at K2.2 per kg from farmers he complains that the price is too low.How can you bring the price down if the raw materials are expensive?Let us be real guys.This one was just lucky to be rich through kick backs from mines.He is just followed because of tribe otherwise something is wrong with him
The cost of everything from farming input to fuel is cheap in South Africa.
But the cost of a 10kg bag of Beakfast maize meal costs R60.00 or K58.00.
In Namibia a 12.5kg bag costs R62.00
ulabeja
Comment: @ Muzo
Dr Martin Luther King dreamt of Obama becoming President.
Mandela dreamt and he became first black President. Your President said he had no vision and mealie is K120 and still climbing. It starts with a dream.
Can yu promise zambian people the minimum wage, second price of fertiliser , issues of Chinese people
HH actually has a valid point or two when he talks about water harnessing mechanisms to be sorted across the country. This will ensure that farmers align themselves to farming blocks. But off course he straighed when he said less than K50. He knows it himself as an economist and business man.How can you pay the farmer more than K115 and yet sell at K50. So he must qualify his digestion by talking us how that will work without subsidising. Which part of our economy is he willing to sacrifice? Tax payers’s cash or the deficits will come from his companies? Please qualify your statements
It might seem as a joke or political but atlist he has somthing to look at and target on. Yes we might have been cheated on once, twice and thrice… but if we can AGREE and WORK in one accord nothing can be impossible, BUT the challenge is some of us are too NEGATIVE when it comes to BRILLIANT ideas like SUCH. The challenge i will POSE to some of us who are against that great vision is , What do you HAVE OR whats YOUR vision/IDEA to bring THAT change to our present situation in ZAMBIA ? Lets WORK together and see how we can beautify our NATION we just HAVE one ZAMBIA lets take care of our ONLY Zambia.
UPND stop telling us lies like your colleagues in PF. All of you politicians are like you are from one mother. All of you are liars
I can see most of you here don’t even know what is farming if you knew you would love HH and appreciate him all I see is hate and jealous HH is a gift to Zambia but the devil has blinded a lot of you with hate that you can’t see you get somebody telling you let’s make farming the whole year round thing and he got ideas how to do it and you can’t see God in him when this man is gone is when your eyes will open let’s put Zambia first and let’s forget about hate one Zambia one nation
@ sichalwe, I think you are missing out point. Where in the world have you seen things for almost free. Yes we agree that water reservoirs are needed everywhere. But let’s not I sunuate that even if you build these as govt at no direct cost to the farmer, you expect him to toil for nothing. He must get a favourable return. But out of his produce, you want to sell it cheaply.
Does that make sense to you? Or are you trying to politicize as well. Not everyone hates HH as you put it.
Chiluba asked the masses ‘ are you ready to sacrifice?’ And that all said ‘YES! He also promissed cheap melie meal just like Mwanawasa, RB, CMS and others. I feel these are politics of yester year.
We need hope. INOVATION will definitely sway my support.
We need to teach HH BASIC ECONOMICS AND ECONOMICS OF EQUILIBRIUM PRICES He is clearly doesn’t understand the commodity economics especially of maize and cost of production there are two sides to it demand and supply. Prices of mealie meal are being driven solely by demand and partially by supply constraints due to drought and logistics
PRODUCTION COSTS ARE ACTUALLY VERY LOWER PER TONNAGE by most local farmers Perhaps he needs to be taught economics of CONTAGION in respect of commodity prices like mealie meal
What is True is to promote agriculture and increase the yields per hectares and increase production to increase supply and crystallize the prices to NEAR Break-even of K 70 per 25 kg bag and so…
far Polices have achieved and plans are achieving those targets
Its interesting to observe also that the Long-run Cost Curves in terms of production of maize have moved to near K 45 per 25 kg or 90 Kg depending where you are farming and your mechanisms
Badala ba HH mulabeja ! It’s not possible, it’s cheap politicking.
Buy maize from Farmers at K100+maize transportation+milling +packaging+transportation of the finished product= K50 (HH sale price)?? Yaba, kwena this advanced economics!!
Hear the word “mealie meal subsidy” anyone??
Compartriots I have been silent for a while to reflect where our party is after the disaster of the last lost election.When I called for a theratrical dissection of the loss I was labeled. When I advised Adolf and his Great Bag of Maize to stop the court drama I was shouted down. When I called for not boycotting national events but mingling with everyone to sell our vision I was rendered a mole. Today even the likes of CK and now yellow card are better organized than Adolf and his terrified goons. If we go to the polls in this naked state we shall be lynched and Adolf forever buried. You need a fresh mandate or a new face at the helm to win, now Adolf sounds like the late MCS except he doesn’t have the same organizing acumen.
Good idea…
But how are you planning on doing it?… What’s your plan to do it better?… do you have alternative resources, technology and skills to achieve this plan?…. What can you do to curve the effects of climate change?
HOW???
Did Akainde pass E110 or it was leakage as usual?
There were no leakages in his days
I think HH is completely finished. These lies dont add up because a person vying for highest job in the land cant reason in such a shallow manner. Mr. Sata, MHSRIP was ahead of us and when he called HH an Under 5, little did we understand.
I think its very dangerous to be desperate about something because the things you say and do can be catastrophic. Honestly, as an economist, this man could have laid out issues with a bigger picture and then support them with fundamentals but to know that someone dreaming to be president can be this myopic is back breaking. HH, you are extremely dull and no wonder you keep losing elections. Is water the only ingredient in maize production? NO! What about electricity costs for pumping water from dams and boreholes, fertiliser inputs, seed price, labour…
contd
What about electricity costs for pumping water from dams and boreholes, fertiliser inputs, seed price, labour costs, transport and at how much will you buy maize from the farmers? Cheap political propaganda is long gone, toady we all know it costs money to bring meaningful development and only politicians who are aggressive with their agenda coupled with serious, well thought out roadmaps will be allowed to lead, not this cheap talk and negative thinking will win you an election. HH is a livestock farmer, can he explain how he intends to make beef products affordable to ALL Zambians instead of looking at what he doesnt understand?
Comment:he is farmer unless He Was not I was going to disagree
People are tired of hearing that. Every political party is saying the same thing. What people want to know sir is how you are going to do it. Joseph in the bible in the book of Genesis not only told Pharaoh what was to unfold but provided a sound plan on how to combat the situation to come. That is what people want to hear from those aspiring for leadership.
The opposition UPND says it will target to reduce the price of a 25kg bag of mealie meal by below K50 when it forms government.
And when dat will b? Cant wait 100 years.
Malinso, wats de mata wit u? Hh will supply free electric frm hs farm in namwala. Fertiliser no, hech h will supply cow dang frm his farm in namwala. K50 for 1kg mealiemeal derefor is realistic
…kikiki…and I will build a university in every District in Zambia in my first 100 days in office. So vote for me.
Under 5 at work
For that to happen HH will have to make the Kwacha appreciate to $1=K3
what I don’t understand is letting the price to reach so high that’s when we see people trying to do something about it..next time try to solve this problem at the first glance..
A price of K115 per 25kg is ideal if this money was going to the farmers not some middle man who doesn’t even eat nsima. Zambians are willing to pay high prices for DSTV repeats but double H thinks keeping the farmers in poverty is the way statehouse. Laughable