UPND GOVT’S GMO MEALIE MEAL PLAN- Fred M’membe

UPND GOVT’S GMO MEALIE MEAL PLAN

We would like to caution Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his league to respect the nation’s biosafety protocols, in particular the importation and consumption of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) maize or mealie meal.

GMO maize or mealie meal is prohibited in Zambia, and all successive administrations – UNIP, MMD, and PF- have adhered to these regulations and protected citizens from exposure to these foods.

But we are afraid that if there’s crop failure, as it seems to be the case in this situation, the price of our staple food – mealie meal will more than double, and Mr Hichilema and his corrupt tribal puppet regime will end up feeding this country with imported GMO maize or mealie meal.

We sounded the alarm on this matter last week and before the week could even conclude, our fears were confirmed after the Republican Vice-President Mrs Mutale Nalumango informed the nation that GMO mealie meal is safe for consumption. The Vice- President’s remarks came at the back of a report by the Zambia National Service (ZNS) that the GMO mealie meal, which was meant for export to the DR Congo had been stolen in one of their storage facilities.

Clearly, the perpetrators did this with the view of selling the said GMO mealie meal for consumption on the Zambian market.

Vice-President Nalumango’s stance on the consumption of GMO products, specifically mealie meal, is not only a major policy shift for Mr Hichilema and the UPND government but also revealing of what this corrupt tribal puppet regime intends to do when scarcity of the staple food hits the country owing to crop failure. We said it that the options are very limited for them, and so, the Vice-President’s recent encouragement on the consumption of GMO mealie meal settles our argument that this government will most likely import GMO mealie meal to feed to the nation.

We are aware that they are panicking because they have virtually wiped out the national food reserves after they sold the all maize that could have been used as reserves to the DR Congo and other neighbouring countries. They are under extreme pressure because hunger is looming.

So, they have hatched a plan to begin campaigning for the consumption of GMO maize or mealie meal. This government intends to mobilise various stakeholders like the Church, civil society, labour movement, and their surrogate political parties, among others, to advance their GMO consumption agenda. They’re mobilising, and very soon, we shall see paid voices begin echoing Vice-President Nalumango’s comments on GMO mealie meal consumption.

We urge Zambians not to treat the Vice-President’s statement on the consumption of GMO mealie meal lightly because it is all part of the grand scheme to introduce GMO mealie meal on the market and feed it to our people.

We must resist it.

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party S