CITIZENS FIRST CF PRESIDENT HARRY KALABA HITS OUT AT MEALIE MEAL PRICE SWINGS
Citizens First (CF) president Harry Kalaba has criticised the government over what he described as erratic and punitive fluctuations in the price of mealie meal.
In a social media post, Mr Kalaba said reducing the price to K250 after it had surged from K120 to as high as K350 was nothing to celebrate, arguing that Zambians remain burdened by high living costs.
He accused the authorities of mismanaging the staple commodity and attempting to seek praise for reversing a crisis of their own making.
Mr Kalaba said the sharp increases had already inflicted financial pain on households before the marginal reduction was announced.
He stressed that leadership should be judged by price stability and affordability, not temporary corrections.
His remarks have sparked mixed reactions online, with supporters applauding his stance while critics dismissed it as political posturing.
Kalaba as your name is translated forgetting, yourself with pf how much did you find the meanie meal at, how much was a dollar and how much was fiel. And how many times did fuel, dollar or mealie meal reduce during your steal years in power. Before we move please answer these three questions.
Please conduct a fundamental analysis of demand and supply. You have not experienced rainfall in the past years, yet you anticipate low prices for mealie meal. Are you aware of the cost of a bag of fertilizer, Kalaba? Do you own a small farm, and how many bags of maize do you yield? Your lack of understanding is quite concerning, sir.
Harry you like undressing yourself in public, have you forgotten that you were part of PF that destroyed this economy? Tell us what did during your time with your defunct PF that can make us listen to you?
In 2011 when PF were voted into power, the price of mealie meal was K35 for a 25Kg bag of Breakfast mealie meal. In 2021 when PF were voted out, the price was K175, an increase of 400%. Similarly, the exchange rate was K5 to the dollar in 2011 and K23 to the dollar in 2021, a depreciation of 360%. The fuel price was K5 per litre in 2011 and K17 per litre in 2021, an increase of 240%.
Contrast this with the changes since UPND came to power. Mealie meal was at K175 and is now at K250 according to Mr. Kalaba. This a price increase of 43% (PF 400%). Exchange rate was K23/USD and is now K19/USD, corresponding to an appreciation of 17%. That is -17% (PF 360% depreciation). Fuel was at K17/lt and is now at K28/lt for petrol, an increase of 65% (PF 240%). The price changes have been converted to percentages for a more objective comparison between PF and UPND.
Now we have heard you Mr. Kalaba. What I would like to know is what are your price projections for mealie meal, fuel and exchange rate? More importantly, how are you going to achieve those targets?
During PF rule the trend for prices was invariably upwards. Under UPND we are seeing some prices coming down.
Mr. Kalaba is good at stating the problem but extremely poor at offering solutions. In other words he has nothing to offer and as state president, he would fail miserably.
Let him continue with his ichibeleshi thing ,August is just 5 months remaining, hope he is also a professional mourner and is drinking alot of water so that he doesn’t drain on that day