IT’S FREE FOOLISHNESS…not free market, to open country for trade in maize – Nawakwi
By Kombe Chimpinde Mataka
FDD leader Edith Nawakwi has described as “free foolishness” to open up the country for trade in maize grain.
Nawakwi said in an interview that there was a shortage of mealie meal in the country because maize was sold out as early as last November.
“You cannot allow Zambians to buy mealie meal at K270. This is what is going on in Nakonde, places like Shangombo; all those places. There is no product. Go to National Milling, there is a shortage. Which trader is exploiting the maize?” Nawakwi wondered. “These are champions of free market. Look, there is no maize. Just about two months ago, the people in Chisamba were protesting that the government is exporting maize to Tanzania. They were loading trucks from Chisamba and people in Chisamba said ‘these FRA (Food Reserve Agency) sheds are where we lineup to buy maize when it is in short supply in January and February. So you cannot lie. The problem with these people is they are pathological liars.”
She said it was not only consumers of maize who get affected but also livestock farmers.
Nawakwi also bemoaned the procedure involved in accessing FRA maize.
“Now, who went there to say this is rubbish? It was Chushi Kasanda. ‘No, these are contracts, we have enough stock’… even their Minister of Agriculture [Reuben Mtolo Phiri]… Do you know that to get maize from FRA the minister, Mtolo himself has to authorise? It is not even the CEO for FRA. You have to go to the ministry and get his personal signature. Mtolo has to authorise for a miller to go and collect maize and pay FRA,” Nawakwi said. “We have been trying from FRA as usual as farmers to feed chickens, not just for nshima. Maize is for livestock. We have been trying to
source just for three trucks – 90 tonnes of maize. We have been told you have to personally go and see Mr Mtolo in his personal capacity? Ask him, why is the minister involved in the personal allocation of maize to millers? You cannot go to FRA and they issue an allocation. They stopped a month ago but even before then, Mtolo had his favourite millers who he was allocating. They want millers, so we who are feeding chickens, pigs, goats, pigeons, rabbits, you cannot get the maize! Now, are we going to feed on nshima without protein?”
Nawakwi insisted that there is a shortage of maize in the country, hence the soaring mealie meal prices.
“The point is there is a shortage of grain in the country. When the President walked into office, before he could find a chair to sit on, he looked at the maize in the sheds and in the field and he opened for all and sundry to come in and trade. And for those who work with farmers in the villages, we met Rwandese buying, we met Congolese buying. We met Tanzanians buying soya beans and maize and taking it out at extremely low prices,” she said. “The millers were paying farmers K4 [a gallon of maize] at the time. Hakainde Hichilema reduced it. Were they reducing it so that Zambians can buy maize? They were reducing it so that foreign grain traders have access. I cannot go to Tanzania and buy beans in the villages but Hakainde Hichilema thinks that Zambia is a place where even foreigners can go to Kanchibiya and buy caterpillars. You find Congolese in the villages with canters buying caterpillars. Mr Hichilema thinks that is free market. That is free foolishness. It is free foolishness what they are engaging in. It is not free market, it is free foolishness and ignorance.”
And Nawakwi said it was obvious that Zambia was food insecure as observed by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen during her recent visit.
“Even IMF said Zambia is grain insecure. This last visit by IMF, by these two ladies from Washington, what did [Dr Janet] Yellen say? She said this year Zambia will be facing food insecurity. This is an indictment on the President because since MMD Zambia has been food secure. He thinks by running to [DRC President Felix] Tshisekedi he is a good boy,” said Nawakwi. “This food insecurity will follow us up to 2024 because we don’t have fertiliser. You can talk to Yellen , you can talk, to Georgina [IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva) but the bottom line is when you have no food even IMF package becomes completely useless. The public relations that is going on does not matter. People are hungry.”