PeP STATEMENT REQUESTING CLARIFICATION FROM PRESIDENT HICHILEMA ON THE VARIOUS INCONSISTENCIES SURROUNDING THE NON-PAYMENT OF FARMERS THAT SUPPLIED MAIZE TO FRA IN JUNE 2025
Liberty House – Lusaka I 22nd December 2025
1. As Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP), we have noted with sadness, the admission made by Government, through the Eastern Province Minister, Hon Peter Phiri, last Saturday in Katete, that farmers have still not been paid for the maize that they supplied to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in June 2025.
2. As Patriots for Economic Progress, we have on record the statement issued by the Minister of Finance on 6th November 2025, saying that Government had borrowed a total of K5 billion from a syndicate of local commercial banks, to pay off all the outstanding amounts owed to farmers for maize supplied in 2025.
3. We also have on record, a statement issued by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Mtolo Phiri, in September 2025, that Government had purchased a total of 543,000 metric tonnes of maize in the 2025 season, at a price of K340 per 50kg bag. This translates to a total value of 543,000 x 20 x K340, which is approximately K3.7 billion.
4. It is also in the public domain that Government, through announced contracts with DRC and Malawi, has sold more than 600,000 metric tonnes of maize in the past 4 months.
5. We also have on record, a statement issued by the Minister of Finance, on 12th November 2025, that Zambia’s Gross Foreign Reserves at Bank of Zambia, had grown to $5.2 billion.
6. In the premises above, our request for clarification from President Hakainde Hichilema is as follows;
(i) If Government borrowed K5 billion to pay farmers, and the farmers were owed only K3.7 billion, how come farmers have not been paid up to now?
(ii) Why did Government have to borrow to pay farmers when the maize that they supplied was sold by Government to DRC and Malawi for cash?
(iii) If indeed Zambia’s reserves at BOZ are standing at $5.2 billion, then why is it difficult for Government to spend $180 million (approximately 4% of reserves) to pay off the farmers, given the urgency of the matter?
(iv) Is the President aware that the majority of farmers only receive a single income per year, from the sale of their maize, and that they depend on this single income to meet all their financial obligations, which would have accrued during the course of the year, ranging from buying uniforms and paying school fees, to buying farming inputs?
(v) Given the fact that the 2025/26 farming season is currently in full swing, and that farmers have not yet been paid to enable them to buy farming inputs, what kind of harvest does the President expect farmers to produce next year?
(v) The President recently announced that he is constructing an energy solar plant from the proceeds of sale of his cattle. That means, when the President sells his cattle, he is paid, thereby allowing him to benefit and prosper from his farming activities. Wouldn’t the President also like other common Zambia’s to benefit and prosper from their farming activities by paying them on time?
7. It is our sincere hope and wish that President Hakainde Hichilema can provide adequate and sound clarity regarding the various inconsistencies raised above, on the failure by his Government to pay farmers on time.
8. Lastly, we wish to bring it to the attention of the President, that the Zambian people are fully aware of the fact that our country is a developing nation that faces several financial challenges at any given time. However, the people’s request is that in facing these challenges, their President should be truthful and honest in his dealings with the people. The governance of the nation should never be premised on deceit or propaganda. Only through transparency, accountability, fairness and an equitable distribution of national wealth, can we develop this nation that we call home.
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Issued by:
Sean E. Tembo (SET)
Party President
Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP)
Lusaka, Zambia