Msoni fears for massive starvation
…says mishandling of 2022/2023 FISP will leave majority of Zambians in acute hunger
THE year 2023 will be a difficult one as majority of Zambians are at risk of facing starvation as a result of President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration mishandling the delivery of fertiliser and other farming inputs, Nason Musoni has warned.
Mr Musoni, the leader of the New Congress Party (NCP) says it is shameful that President Hichilema who had promised farmers early distribution of fertiliser had failed to meet his pledge but has instead collapsed the agriculture sector which a year ago was thriving.
He says there is looming hunger in the country as a result of the UPND administration having collapsed the agriculture sector due to incompetence among the new leaders.
Mr Musoni said he had supported President Hichilema in opposition under the conviction that the UPND leader was going to make a good national leader but that the Head of State had proved beyond doubt that he had failed.
He said it would be under the rule of Mr Hichilema that Zambia was faced with acute starvation not because of natural causes such as drought or other natural calamities but because of the failure by the government to manage the 2022/2023 Farmer Input Support Programme.
President Hichilema has on many occasions announced and promised Zambians that fertiliser was being delivered but there is still an outcry from across the country that the commodity has not been delivered.
In areas where there are reports that fertiliser has been delivered, farmers have been reduced to sharing a bag of fertiliser between many, making the delivery and distribution of the commodity a disaster.
“I fear for the worst and we need to be honest with this disaster. The year 2023 will be a very difficult one as thousands and thousands of our people are faced with massive starvation because government has mishandled the FISP.
It is shameful that they promised early delivery of fertiliser, they promised more bags and cheap fertiliser but farmers are now being forced to share a bag between so many of them for areas that have received. What is playing out leaves much to be desired? They lied to the people,” Mr Musoni lamented.
And Mr Musoni has accused President Hichilema of having divided the country on tribal lines by allegedly appointing into government people from only two regions of the country.
Mr Musoni alleged that President Hichilema had refused to be a national leader by reducing the country into two regions from which the Head of State was making the majority of his appointments in government.
He explained that President Hichilema had commanded a huge and overriding mandate by being voted for by citizens across and beyond regional lines but was disappointed that the Head of State had turned regional in his style of governance.