WE ARE NOT SAFE
…. following the revelation that there is maize on the market which contains a toxin, Aflatoxin, observes Mukandila
Lusaka… Wednesday , August 21, 2024 (SMART EAGLES)
Lusaka Lawyer and PF Matero Strongman Celestine Mambula Mukandila says Zambians are not safe following the revelations that there is maize on the market which contains a toxin, Aflatoxin which collapses the lungs and destroys kidneys.
Government has said some maize which is on the market has a toxin, Aflatoxin, which collapses the lungs and destroys kidneys.
The government has, however, refused to name which brands this toxin has been detected in so far.
Speaking when he featured on KBN TV’s State of Governance programme, Tuesday, Mr Mukandila said this mess has been necessitated by the negligence of the UPND government.
Mr Mukandila further said he is on record warning government on the kind of maize they are importing into the country after selling the maize reserves.
“We are on record warning government with regards to being very careful with the kind of maize we want to import into the country. The truth of the matter is that monitoring the importation of maize was not properly done and the truth of the matter is that we allowed to import maize grain at a very speedy rate all because of the negligence of this government because they decided to export all the maize reserves and sold it all because we wanted the dollars,” he said.
“The negligent act that was done by the government in allowing exportation of our maize reserves is the reason why we have found ourselves in this situation. And the reason is simple, I don’t think we have monitored the amount of maize that is coming in the country through imports and I don’t think we tried to look at quality control of this maize.”
He said when questioned previously, the government indicated that the imported GMO maize were meant for exports.
“We at some point brough out issues that the government has been importing maize and told us that this GMO coming from South Africa for example is maize for export. So for me I think that it’s a point of worry, alarm and I feel and believe that we need to put a guard and investigate and check which companies have this commodity. Companies that are producing feed should be checked on the quality of maize they have.”
Meanwhile, Mr Mukandila alleged that the entire UPND government is dented with corruption.
“The entire government is dented with corruption. At the Ministry of Health, we had the US$100 million scandal up to now, we have not heard any statement from the Anti Corruption Commission. We had the recent medicine scandal at ZAMMSA under the Ministry of Health, we had issues of single sourcing of drugs all is corruption. This latest scandal falls under the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Ministry of Health,” he stated.
“At the Ministry of Agriculture, we had a one day old company being awarded a contract for the purchase of maize at the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), isn’t that corruption? That shows that the ACC does not have the teeth to fight corruption in the country.”
#SmartEagles2024
We are safe only lazy people you keep complaining
When people were being gassed, you were safe, why are you not safe now? What’s wrong with you? That matter is already being investigated and the truth will come out soon. You should also know that the enemies and haters of the President and his government are desperately looking for anything to discredit him, so they can as well put that toxin. Otherwise which milling company would want to lose its credibility over politics? Fyakubika fye and very soon the law will catch up with those criminals who are doing it.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Now that government has warned of the toxin, you should be helping citizens to arm themselves against consuming the maize which has toxins. So lets us investigate and know the source of this toxin and government should quickly identify the maize with toxins or the source of the toxin. Meanwhile citizens should exercise caution in consuming meal meal until the problem is resolved adequately.