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Agriculture Minister expresses ignorance on when the Agro Dealers will be paid

Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo
Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo

Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo has expressed ignorance on when the agro dealers will be paid the money owed to them for inputs supplied starting in 2017.

Mr Katambo says he is not aware when the Ministry of Finance will release the money to dismantle the K374 million owed to agro dealers.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday Mr Katambo said as of November 2019, government had paid K804 million to agro dealers leaving a balance of K374 million.

He said in a Ministerial statement that agro dealers are a critical stakeholder in the implementation of the e-voucher system under the farmer input support program hence the commitment by government to pay them quickly.

Mr Katambo has since called for patience among agro dealers saying government is working hard to clear the arrears saying engagements are ongoing between his Ministry and the Ministry of Finance on the release of money to pay the agro dealers.

Meanwhile Mr Katambo told parliament that government has engaged national suppliers to fill the gap created by agro dealers who have refused to give inputs to farmers.

And Mr Katambo said reports that some Ministers have companies that have been engaged to supply inputs are false.

He has challenged people making the allegations to provide evidence for their allegations.

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10 COMMENTS

    • He recently announced that they expect a bumper harvest of 1million metric tons of maize , during this farming season.

      He doesn’t seem to know how that should pan out, if the supplies of seed and fertilizer are not paid.

      What a useless minister!

  1. Of course they are all ignorant including the remote controlled lungu..so can president kaizer zulu look into this and inform us what is going on.

  2. JUST LOOK AT HIM.
    As visionless as his master J0n@, just there for the free Taxpayers cash gravytrain.

  3. IMF Reject Lesotho Loan Bid, Asks Government to Reduce Foreign Trips
    The high profile IMF delegation has said the South African country does not need additional loans. Instead they advised the government to cut down on its high expenditure on large projects, salaries of civil servants and foreign trips.
    We hope Zambia is listening!

Comments are closed.

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