By Fred M’membe
THE FAILURE TO SUPPLY FERTILISER ON TIME
The leaders of this current government are too focused on becoming very rich, being the richest Zambians to really get a good appreciation of the fertiliser business in Zambia and get an in-depth understanding of the outlook with regard to fertiliser supply, given the current global geopolitical tensions, COVID-19 pandemic, and the domestic macro-economic environment and challenges that the business is facing.
If the factors that led to this failure to supply our poor people with fertilisers at the right time and in the needed quantities are not understood and resolved we will not see a reversal of fortunes in agriculture.
There are serious problems of lack of transparency and predictability in the whole fertiliser supply business. There was a very serious lack of information by the Ministry of Agriculture on tenders for the 2022/23 farming season, and this has, to a very large extent, led to the delay and the many serious hurdles in securing fertilisers, especially in the current environment where the suppliers are facing price volatility at source in the global market.
At a minimum, suppliers need four months to secure and deliver fertiliser into the country. This government, without explanation, cancelled the open tenders at the end of August and “secretly” awarded tenders thereafter. Importers can only secure stocks of fertilisers after government determines its requirements and the financing arrangements governing the programme.
And offtake of fertiliser on the open market will be low this season given the prices – K1,200 for a 50 kg bag instead of the K250 per 50 kg bag they had promised our people – currently facing the users, and as such this speaks to lower procurement forecasts for the open market as well. The consequences of this don’t require many disquisitions.
If decisions were made in good time and tenders were awarded accordingly, the procurement of Urea may not have been as problematic as that of securing D-Compound. This required the government to award FISP tenders no later than June.
Favoritism and corruption by UPND is obvious. FISP agricultre insurance given to four of the five companies that have not paid last year claims till the close of business on 26th November, fertiliser is single sourced and the UPND cadre, te husband to named minister has been given advance but till date no ftiliser reached Zambia. Farmers hold your hoes. No planting till you see the inputs in your district. Measure each bag, they are underweight.
Lamentations of cry babies continue. Abandon social media and start working. Some of these opposition leaders do not have followers, look at the thrashing they get in all elections and bye elections. The day they stop being political and social commentators and abandon social media and stop mobilising and working on the ground, maybe, just maybe
Favoritism define UPND.
UPND is on course, the right lenses to wear for you to see are there but you choose the wrong ones. Just on social media daily, voters do not even see your bloggs and you start crying foul when you get zeroes in elections
Cde Membe, AKA mwansa kapinga………
You went to see tiyai at the police and told the nation………..
Tiyali was badly beaten and needs medical attention………….
Tiyai came out smiling and his relatives disputed your claims……….with tiyali not needing any medical attention
Your desperate lies are pushing you to irrelevance
Says the guy who was making millions and not paying taxes
Mutinta mazoka leaves upnd. A sign that socialist party is gaining ground while upnd continues to disappoint. The tonga above won’t agree
Most of Zambia’s tycoons or business moguls are those that had deals with government or quasi government institutions. Just give me 10 that haven’t, and that includes Fred Mmembe. The problem is that such tenders are usually inflated and non competitive. It’s because we have a weak system that most aren’t in prison. So it’s difficult to tell how genuine this criticism is. Many here will be quiet should they be given an opportunity to supply fertilizer next season. Let’s just accept that this who we are than waste each othe’s time
The arrogance displayed by UPND will be answered in 2026.take note of these simple words
Forward…………2031……..
As long as they do not steal, there is nothing wrong with that ambition. You had it too.
UPND is firmly on the ground. Swept almost all bye elections recently and you are still here on social media blogging, get on the ground man and go and attempt or pretend to be mobilising please. You can not continue being champions on social media, the reason why UPND is thumping you to pulp in bye elections
President Chiluba ones said that is the beauty of Dimocracy.
Did he just wake up now? Where was he when the PF were getting richer by the hour while thousands of Zambians had no jobs? Is it that the PF leaders knew some secrets about him that he was silenced?
By the way, why has his wife never used his name? Is there a real marriage or just a business arrangement for the sake of keeping up appearances?
ATI you cant continue been champions on social media but you are also responding through the same platform, when one dumps the party in power most expercaily the party in power just know that in that party they are problems which we the out siders don’t see or know, the party can look interact from where we are standing because its not ease to leave where umuto, umukaka, suger ( CONNECTIONS ) are,
Membe was handomly paid out by lungu after destroying his post newspaper as 2021 approached………..
Despite lungu destroying the post, which was the pride and joy of membe, have you…….
Ever heard him attack lungu ???? Instead during campinas in 2021 we saw anti HH billboards sponsored by membe……….
What guulishness has gulfed is. The article is on issues to do with fertiliser and by extension food security but instead people are discussing winning elections. Are we going to eat elections?