The price of mealie-meal in Mungwi has continued to maintain an upward trend despite government instituting regulatory measures.

A survey by ZANIS in Mungwi today revealed that the price of a 25kg breakfast is costing K70, 000 while a 25kg roller meal is fetching K45, 000 at the three (3) suppliers of the commodity.

Local dealers at Mungwi market have attributed the price of mealie meal to high transportation costs from Kasama to Mungwi.

One dealer Gilbert Mulenga says they were getting a 25kg breakfast at K 61,000 and a roller meal at K40, 000 from Kasama adding that they could not sell the commodity at not less than K70,000 and K45,000 respectively due to the high transportation costs.

Some residents have however expressed fear that the price of mealie-meal would go up further if government does intervene.

Meanwhile, the supply of the commodity has greatly improved following government’s ban on the exportation of maize to other countries.

A check at Mungwi market found huge stocks of breakfast and roller meal.

And Mealie-meal prices have drastically increased in Nakonde district of Muchinga Province despite government having released more maize to all the millers in the country.

A snap survey carried by the Zambia News and Information Services( ZANIS) in the district yesterday revealed that many retailers in the area had increased the commodity by K11,000 and K8,000 for Roller meal and breakfast respectively.

A 25 kg bag of roller meal is now selling at K79, 000 from K68, 000 while breakfast meal is now being sold at K80, 000 from K72, 000 last week.

One of the retailers who trade as Remnant Investments told ZANIS that the hike in mealie-meal prices in the area is due to high transport costs they were incurring when transporting the commodity from Lusaka to Nakonde.

Another retailer Enock Sikanyika explained that there were so many factors that contributed to the increase in the mealie-meal price in the area.

Mr Sikanyika said that transport, loading and offloading fees were very high hence forcing them to increases the retail price.

Mr Sikanyika further appealed to all the wholesalers in the country to consider reducing the commodity price further in order for the retailers to do the same.

But Nakonde District Commissioner James Singoyi has described the mealie-meal price increase in the area as unjustifiable.

Mr. Singoyi said that last week Government released some more maize to the millers through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in order to see a reduction in the mealie-meal prices country wide.

Mr Singoyi said consumers in Nakonde are being exploited as they do not expect the price of the commodity to start going up following government’s intervention.

The District Commissioner said that the drastic increase in mealie-meal prices at Nakonde border was due to some traders who were reportedly illegally exporting maize to the neighboring countries.

Mr Singoyi has since warned that whoever will be found exporting maize to the neighboring countries illegally, will be dealt with firmly once caught.

He said that government decided to offload more maize to the millers in the country in order for the local people to benefit and not the foreigners.

ZANIS

Chiefs from Central Province have strongly condemned Members of Parliament (MPs) defecting from one political party to another.

The Chiefs say defections are uncalled for and just drain huge resources from the nation.

Reading the resolutions on behalf of other chiefs in Kabwe, Chieftainess Mwenzwa of the Illa speaking people in Itezhi-tezhi district, said money meant for by-elections could be channelled to needy areas like construction of roads, schools, health and police posts among other capital projects.

The traditional leaders made their resolutions during the consultative meeting for chiefs organised by government through the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs.

The chiefs lamented that by-elections are costly to the nation and appealed to MPs against being ‘political prostitutes’.

“As chiefs, we add our voices on MPs who have a developed a tendency of running from one party to another. This conduct is un-called for and a drain on our meagre financial resources. Money meant for by-election can be channled to needy areas particularly improving the livelihood of our subjects in our chiefdoms,” charged the traditional leaders.

The traditional leaders, drawn from the chiefdoms of the Illas, Lenjes and Swakas drawn from Central Province, also resolved to be non-partisan and pledged total support to the Government of the day.

The Chiefs noted strongly that they made their resolution knowing very well that all politicians were their children.

And Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Minister, Nkandu Luo, commended the chiefs for their wise decision and that government would depend on them for guidance and wise counsel.

Prof Luo said government is in a hurry to taking development closer to the people in chiefdoms.

She, however, appealed to the traditional leaders to help government fight all forms of gender based violence, early marriages and excessive beer drinking in their chiefdoms because the vices retard development.

ZANIS

A two years old boy of Muselepete compound in Kasempa district died after falling into a ditch yesterday while his mother was reported to be out with the boyfriend.

According to police confirmation, the boy was left alone in the house around 22:00hours on Christmas Eve while the mother, Maureen Kanyata, 20, went out clubbing with a boyfriend.

Kasempa Police Officer in-Charge Clement Nchimunya said the boy upon realizing that he was alone went outside the house in the hope of finding the mother but ended up being soaked with the heavy rains and slipped into a hole.

Police have since detained the mother of the little boy awaiting further investigations and postmortem.

Meanwhile, Kasempa police have arrested about 15 people on Chrismas day for conduct likely to cause the breach of peace contrary to section of the penal of the laws of Zambia.

Mr Nchumunya noted that apart from the 15 people arrested, the district was generally peaceful and incident free.

And Mr Nchimunya has also commended the Inspector General of police for providing Kasempa police with a land cruiser to easy operations and described the vehicle as good for the terrene.

Kasempa police has for the past one year been operating without its own vehicle which had been difficult to conduct operations.

ZANIS

Kalabo residents have complained bitterly about the continuous Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) power outages that the district is currently experiencing in the area.

The residents complained in the District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) meeting that was held in the Council Chamber in Kalabo on Monday chaired by the District Commissioner Ireen Mate that they were failing to properly use computers in their offices and even run their homes properly due to the continuous power outages.

The residents complained that they were just paying ZESCO more money in the area for insufficient and unsatisfying services.

And when asked on the matter a ZESCO employee who was representing his institution in the meeting referred all queries to his Manager Wamui Mwanang’ombe who was reported to be out to Mongu for other official duties.

The stakeholders in the meeting also asked as to when the ZESCO pre-paid meters were to be installed in premises in Kalabo district and the ZESCO representative responded that the project was being done in phases and started with Mongu district and that Kalabo would also be attended to later.

In a related development, Kalabo residents have complained about the poor radio signal of ZNBC radio one being experienced in the area.

The DDCC members complained that since the installation of ZNBC Radio equipment to boast reception of Radio One and Two in Kalabo in the first week of November, Radio One reception went off just after few days.

The DDCC members said there was agent need for ZNBC Technicians from Mongu to travel to Kalabo to rectify the problem as Radio One reception was vital in the area in that it had a wider majority’s listenership.

And Ms Mate said that she would talk to the ZNBC Technicians in Mongu over the matter when she travels to the area on Thursday tomorrow ahead of the Provincial Development Coordinating Committee (PDCC) meeting.

The ZNBC’s Radio One in Kalabo broadcasts on 88.7 Frequency Modulation (FM) while Radio Two broadcasts on 92.7 FM.

ZANIS