MWANAWASA VS LUNGU – COMPARE & CONTRAST A GOOD LEADER FROM A BAD ONE
(SAME MAIZE SHORTAGE CRISIS)
In 2002, President Levy Mwanawasa was confronted with the same problem that President Lungu is today confronted with, a maize and mealie meal shortage and high prices.
For Mwanawasa, it was his first year in office when he faced this problem.
What did Mwanawasa do?
He immediately initiated the winter maize project, for the next 7 years maize was grown in two cycles, in the winter through irrigation and subsidies to commercial farmers and in the rainy season.
He also doubled inputs to small scale farmers to increase production of maize.
Within one year the winter maize project yielded 800,000 extra metric tonnes of maize, by the second year Zambia was producing excess maize for export to earn foreign exchange and the prices of mealie came down and there were no more maize shortages.
PROBLEM SOLVED 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 (GOOD LEADER)
Now let’s look at President Edgar Lungu
What has he done?
1: Late and fewer inputs to farmers. (FISP /EVOUCHER)
2: Expensive fertilizer supplied by PF affiliated businessmen that increases the cost of maize.
3: No plan in place to increase production yet the population is growing.
4: Excess exports of maize and rampant smuggling to Congo and Malawi when there’s a deficit in Zambia
Result = Maize and mealie meal shortages and high mealie meal prices.
PROBLEM CREATED 😢 (BAD LEADER)