Irate farmers in Mpulungu district have given government up to Wednesday to be paid their money for the maize supplied to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) failure to which they will lock up the offices of the District Commissioner and District Agricultural Coordinator (DACO).

The farmers, who stormed the DCs offices today, demanded her intervention over the payments for their maize, lamenting that they had gone through untold suffering.

Group spokesperson, Patrick Sikasote, said they supplied their maize to the FRA on 3rd August, 2012 but have not received their money from the agency although they were promised to be paid within two weeks of supply.
Mr Sikasote said the farmers borrowed money to transport the maize to the satellite depots and the money lenders were now pestering them for repayment.

‘’We have incurred huge costs in travelling from our areas to the township because of the promissory notes from FRA. There is also the cost in food and lodging here as we wait for the money which is not forthcoming,’’ he complained.
Most of the farmers complained that they had lost household property including television sets, beds, mattresses and sofas among others to the money lenders because of their failure to fulfil the promise to settle their credits in time.

They also complained of hunger in their homes and failure to send their children to school because of lack of school fees, adding that they were also being evicted from their houses because they were unable to pay house rentals.
The farmers, mostly from Chitimbwa, Vyamba, Chinakila, Kopeka and Mpulungu wondered how they were going to buy fertilizers and other agro-inputs in time if they could not be paid their money now when the rainy season was just around the corner.

They said if the government was not in a position to pay them, they were willing to be given back their maize to supply to other interested buyers locally and in neighbouring countries.

But when reached for comment, both the District Commissioner, Juliana Chuzu and District Agriculture Coordinator, Kennedy Sinkamba, said the money would be paid within two weeks, according to the information they had.
Mr Sinkamba added that from the 1,300 farmers who supplied maize to FRA, only 130 were paid on 22nd August, 2012.
He said the department of agriculture was equally worried by the delay because it was defeating the concept of food security at the household level as farmers were forced to sell their reserves to survive because of lack of money to live on.

A traditional leader in Luapula province has called on government through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to accelerate the process of paying farmers.

And Chief Chisunka of Mansa district wondered why government was taking too long to the farmers who he said play a key role in boosting the country’s food security.

In an interview with ZANIS, Chief Chisunka, however, praised government for its commitment of offering support to agriculture in his area by establishing satellite depots.

The Traditional leader stated that it was saddening to note that farmers have not been paid their dues especially that the rainy season will soon be approaching and farmers need to prepare for the next farming season.

He further implored government to construct feeder roads that would make it convenient for farmers to ferry their maize produce.

He further disclosed that some parts of Luapula province have started receiving rainfall which very soon will pose a threat to the maize stock if not well secured.

He called on government to critically look at ways of how the maize grain can be safeguarded even as government mobilises resources to pay farmers.

ZANIS

Government says it is committed to ensure speed and smooth implementation of the provincial television station project which will see television studios established in every province.

Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Mwansa Kapeya, said yesterday that government is keen to see the provincial television project succeed and completed without any delay.

Mr Kapeya said that President Michael Sata has high passion for effective media outreach through television to rural areas because the head of state recognises the importance information plays in national building and development.

He said given this kind of political will in government and the expertise of the eight-member team put in place to spearhead the project, the implementation will succeed and completed in record time.

Mr Kapeya also said ZNBC has an existing strong infrastructural base to enable government roll out the provincial television project.

He was speaking at Solwezi civic centre today when he launched the provincial television project which will be rolled out to all provinces.

The deputy minister said the Patriotic Front government inherited a scenario where television coverage was only concentrated along the line of rail.

Mr Kapeya said this restricted coverage of television signal denied the rural population access to important information which is needed if they are to effectively participate in national development.

Mr Kapeya said the PF government is in a hurry to reverse this state of affairs, hence the launch of the provincial television project today in Solwezi.

He said the provincial television project which will be implemented alongside the digital migration project with the first station established in Solwezi and later rolled out to the rest of the country.

He disclosed that President Sata has personally directed him to ensure the project is urgently implemented and once established the provincial television stations should air 80 per cent content in local languages and only 20 per cent will be broadcast in the English language.

The deputy minister said the television project will create employment during construction of the stations and once operational which is in line with the PF manifesto of job creation and putting more money in people’s pockets.

Chiefs, leaders of various churches, business community and several residents from Solwezi witnessed the launch of television project.

And speaking earlier, Information and Broadcasting services Permanent Secretary, Amos Malupenga, described the launch of the television project today in Solwezi as a memorable historic event.

Mr Malupenga said the project demonstrates the PF government’s commitment to realise a free flow of information in the country.

He said the project will succeed because there is a lot of zeal in the Ministry of Finance to mobilise funds for implementation of the undertaking.

And the provincial television project spearheading committee chairperson, Ducan Mbazima, said that North Western Province is an appropriate province to be a launch pad for the project.

Mr Mbazima said this is because Solwezi, the provincial headquarters, is experiencing phenomenon investment in the mining sector and related enterprises.

ZANIS

The Bank of Zambia(BoZ) has called on microfinance institutions to expand their lending to the productive sectors of the economy and alter the concentration of their loans away from personal to business loans.

Speaking at the launch of a new microfinance institution called Microfinance Zambia in Lusaka today, BoZ Deputy Governor of Operations Dr. Bwalya N’gandu, said the microfinance institutions sector makes up the largest non-bank financial institutions subsector with asset holdings of K1, 172.2 billion as at June this year.

Dr. N’gandu explained that this represents 45.5% of overall assets of non-banking financial institutions, but that the bulk of these assets are in form of payroll based personal loans which are largely for consumption purposes.

He noted that in the banking sector, consumption related lending currently stands at 30% of the total lending, but that this is not the case in micro finance institutions where the figure stands at 90% of the subsector’s total lending.

Dr. N’gandu disclosed that the bank of Zambia will soon announce changes to the minimum capital requirements for microfinance institutions.

He explained that this is because microfinance institutions have made very little contribution to economic growth due to low capital base of the institutions.

Meanwhile, Microfinance Zambia has pledged its commitment to continue working with all stakeholders in promoting financial inclusion with the hope that this will lead to increased economic activity and wealth creation in the country.

Microfinance Zambia Chairman Dr. Rajan Mahtani said the company will ensure its systems, processes, products and services are structured around the key elements that promote economic growth.

And speaking at the same function, Microfinance Zambia chief executive officer M’kwinda Sakala said the company aims at equipping clients with meaningful capital for productive ventures.

ZANIS

Central Province Permanent Secretary Anna Mwitwa has warned Chinese investors in the habit of violating the laws of the land to desist from the act and ensure that they treat the Zambian people working with them as fellow human beings.

Ms. Mwitwa said government will not take kindly to investors who ill-treat and victimize indigenous Zambians for no apparent reasons.

She said this when she toured Itezhi-tezhi High School to check on the progress of the construction works going on there.

The Permanent Secretary was, however, disturbed when she heard that a Chinese national, only identified as Mr. Owang, assaulted a Zambian casual worker on Wednesday, this week.

She condemned the act, saying she had noted with sadness the suffering that the Zambian people are going through under the hands of some foreign investors.

Ms. Mwitwa said instead of assaulting workers, foreign investors should concentrate on their work and appreciate the enabling environment created by government by upholding peace and tranquility with their Zambian employees.

She added that the Chinese investors should realize that they cannot invest in the country without the full support of all Zambians, hence the need for them to desist from abusing their opportunity of investing in the country.

She further bemoaned the shoddy works done at the school by the previous contractor, saying she was reliably informed that the contract was earlier awarded to a Zambian contractor who did not deliver according to people’s expectations.

The Permanent Secretary said it was unfortunate that Zambian contractors were the ones in the habit of doing shoddy works when they should be the pioneers of quality works in the country.

And earlier, a Chinese national who declined to give his identity told the Permanent Secretary that he assaulted the Zambian worker because Zambian workers insult and steal a lot.

Mr. Owang, who struggled to communicate in English, said he did not regret his detention because some of the Zambian workers working with him were unruly and irresponsible that he could not resist the temptation of assaulting any one of them.

He, however, refuted allegations that he assaulted the victim due to delayed disbursement of wages because he is always on time to pay the workers as per requirement.

And Itezhi-tezhi Police Officer-In-Charge revealed that the worker only known as Paul had since withdrawn the case against Mr. Owang.

ZANIS