By JACKSON MAPAPAYI
MORE than 70 farmers in Kasempa have had their maize soaked at the Food Reserve Agency (ZRA) depot during the surprise Monday evening rains.
The farmers were at the time waiting for their turn to sell their maize to the FRA.
Kasempa, just like other towns in the country experienced some rainfall on Monday night.
The affected farmers complained that they had been waiting for a long time to have their maize weighed by FRA personnel at the depot.
One of the affected farmers, Zachariah Mukobola, said all his maize had been soaked following the rains experienced in the area.
“I brought about 32 bags of maize for sale here at the depot, and I have been here for almost a month now and am still waiting to be attended to. But on Monday night, all my maize was soaked by the rains,” Mr Mukobola said.
Another farmer, Memory Kajoba, said all her 40 bags of maize were soaked due to heavy rains that were experienced in Kasempa.
She said FRA could not help because it does not have enough tents to help cover their maize.
“And we have no option but to start drying it up if we to sale it to the agency,” she said.
Another farmer, Jonas Kajimalwendo, attributed slow pace by FRA due to lack of enough manpower at satellite depots.
“The biggest challenge is shortage of manpower, most depots are understaffed,” he said.
