Former Vice-President Enoch Kavindele says the current drought should not be politicised or indeed be blamed on the UPND government as it is a natural calamity.
President Hakainde Hichilema last month declared the country’s debilitating drought, attributed to the El Nino weather pattern, a national disaster and emergency.
“We are saying the crop has failed, not because UPND is in power, this is beyond us, there is drought in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and parts of Angola,” he said in an interview.
“Drought is all over.” Mr Kavindele, who was Vice-President under Levy Mwanawasa when the country also experienced another drought in the early 2000’s, noted that this is not a new experience for the country.
“This happened also in 1991, we had to bring in maize from Brazil, that was yellow maize, indeed,” he said.
“Zambians are not used to eating yellow maize, so they complained, but it was certainly the right thing to do.”
Mr Kavindele said there is need to learn lessons from the current difficult situation in terms of utilising irrigation.
“And I’m very happy that the President [Hakainde Hichilema] has said that we have to improve our irrigation system,” he said.
DON’T POLITICISE DROUGHT – KAVINDELE
Former Vice-President Enoch Kavindele says the current drought should not be politicised or indeed be blamed on the UPND government as it is a natural calamity.
President Hakainde Hichilema last month declared the country’s debilitating drought, attributed to the El Nino weather pattern, a national disaster and emergency.
“We are saying the crop has failed, not because UPND is in power, this is beyond us, there is drought in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and parts of Angola,” he said in an interview.
“Drought is all over.” Mr Kavindele, who was Vice-President under Levy Mwanawasa when the country also experienced another drought in the early 2000’s, noted that this is not a new experience for the country.
“This happened also in 1991, we had to bring in maize from Brazil, that was yellow maize, indeed,” he said.
“Zambians are not used to eating yellow maize, so they complained, but it was certainly the right thing to do.”
Mr Kavindele said there is need to learn lessons from the current difficult situation in terms of utilising irrigation.
“And I’m very happy that the President [Hakainde Hichilema] has said that we have to improve our irrigation system,” he said.-Zambia Daily Mail