By ROGERS KALERO
MEALIE meal shortages on the Copperbelt are unacceptable and Government must ensure the availability of the commodity everywhere at an affordable price especially that it is a staple food,’’ the Democratic Governance and Human Rights Activist (DEGHA) has said.
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DEGHA National Coordinator Gerald Mutelo said the organisation was concerned over the shortages of mealie meal on the Copperbelt which has resulted in traders taking advantage and selling a 25kg breakfast mealie meal bag at K250, which is beyond the ordinary Zambians buying power.
Mr Mutelo said the situation was unacceptable and Government must ensure the availability of mealie meal everywhere which is affordable, adding that, Government should be reminded that nshima (mealie meal) was the staple food and it must be always be available and affordable to everyone not only the rich.
“We are concerned as an organisation over the shortages of mealie meal on the Copperbelt and that this development has resulted in traders taking advantage and selling a 25kg breakfast mealie meal bag at K250, which is beyond the ordinary Zambian citizens buying power.
“This is unacceptable. The failure for people to access mealie meal will result in hunger and anger by the masses towards the government because it’s the duty and responsibility for the administration to provide for its citizens,’’ Mr Mutelo said.
Mr Mutelo said, while he appreciated the measures of using Zambia National Service (ZNS) to produce and distribute Mealie Meal at K175 per 25Kg Mealie Meal bag of breakfast, the development was not sustainable because very few are having access to buy the ZNS Mealie Meal.
“It has created a situation where people have to queue up as if it is voting day and one maybe misled thinking it’s a by-election for a parliamentary seat but its people lining up to buy cheap mealie meal. If the situation is not handled well it will lead to stampede one day in buying affordable mealie meal.
“Government needs to address the mealie meal issue urgently and very well, the new dawn government has scored very well in areas of our economy, social sectors and Constituency Development Fund (DF) , but the issues of mealie meal if not handled well will make the new dawn government very unpopular with the masses, remember what happened to the UNIP government,’’ he said.
He appealed to the Ministers of Agriculture, Commerce and Trade and Local Government to ensure that we have enough maize grown and stored in the country not what is currently happening.
“We have a ready market for maize and Mealie Meal in Congo DRC, Angola and other countries in southern and eastern African states, what we need is to have state farms and milling plants in each district this will increase production for local demands and the excess can be exported to DRC, Angola and others we can even create revenue for the central and local government.
“This is an opportunity for councils to be involved in maize and mealie meal production by having farms and milling plants managed by councils themselves and they will have a lot of revenue for improved service delivery. Councils. This will also help manage smuggling issues,’’ he said.
He said milling companies and traders must ensure that they meet the local demands for Mealie Meal before exporting.
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