President Hakainde Hichilema has unveiled a significant initiative aimed at bolstering food security and reducing mealie meal prices in Zambia. In his address during the official opening of the third session of the 13th National Assembly in Lusaka, President Hichilema announced that the government would establish a credit window for the public sector to enhance the production of maize and other crops.
This credit window will offer public sector participants access to funding at concessional rates, facilitating their engagement in agriculture and contributing to the nation’s agricultural output. President Hichilema emphasized the government’s commitment to promoting the planting of crops twice a year, a move intended to increase crop yields and drive down the price of essential food items.
In his address, President Hichilema also touched upon another pressing national issue—the ownership and future plans for Mopani Copper Mines. He assured the nation that talks regarding the mining company’s fate have advanced significantly and that an announcement is imminent. The President underscored his administration’s determination to revitalize the mining sector, a key contributor to the national treasury.
Furthermore, President Hichilema revealed plans to conduct a national geological mapping exercise to assess Zambia’s mineral resources comprehensively and devise strategies for their sustainable exploitation.
In the realm of governance and decentralization, the President provided an update on the devolution of power from the Central Government. He stated that 34,000 civil servants have been attached to local authorities, facilitating the transfer of responsibilities to local levels of government. Local authorities have already begun executing some of the functions delegated by the Central Government, marking a significant step towards the effective implementation of the decentralization policy.
But it is still money that will be spent to produce the stuff. Let’s not cheat ourselves… mealie meal prices cannot come down without subsidies. You can stop smuggling but that won’t reduce the price.
Just come out in the open and tell the nation that our fininciers have told us not to subsdise food. We shall understand.
I’m not sure myself if it’ll be money well spent. We have such a long catalogue of failures in the agriculture sector that there’s simply no space here to recount them.
I can’t wait to watch him k!ssing her in Ibex cells.
Is that the police station in charge of Community House?
I love you hh
It doesn’t make sense to push for the liquidation of Lima Bank then announce a vague agricultural credit facility that doesn’t have a structure to manage it. Almost every major pronouncement that he makes nowadays sounds nonsensical. Is this going to replace FISP or it’ll run side by side? How is it going to be managed? We’re tired of unqualified empty statements. Peter Magande has made a serious observation about debts that are still on the books of Lima Bank. We’re just watching as things unfold
He is avoiding paying Debt.This one is the most clueless president Zambia has ever had.No plan but self prasing without even building a toilet.Sorting economy but prices going up everyday.Anyway voting based on tribal is bad.His praise singers don’t care about his perfomance as long as he is one of them they will defend even when when he slaps them but can say he has slapped me.