THE reportage shortage of mealie meal in Ndola and other towns on the Copperbelt does not make sense when the country is food secure.
This is because the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Reuben Mtolo Phiri recently stated in Parliament that the country has enough maize stocked by the Food Reserve Agency.
But even with this assurance, mealie meal shortage has hit the City of Ndola with most outlets including chain stores running out of the staple food, causing panic among consumers.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that there is a shortage of mealie meal in Lusaka, with most towns in Zambia having run out of the 25 kg bags of the commodity.
Many retail shops in Ndola, including Jambo, Shoprite and Pick ‘n’ Pay reportedly having run out of stock and for those that had the commodity, only 10 kg bags were in stock.
Authorities have attributed the shortage of the staple food to traders and milling companies opting to smuggle the commodity to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the mealie meal is said to be trading at as high the price as K500.
But this does not hold water.
Smuggling of mealie meal to Congo DR is not a new phenomenon that can be used as an excuse for the ongoing shortage.
It has always been a thorny issue and the reported seizure by Police on Friday of two trucks loaded with about 2, 000 bags of mealie meal which was destined for smuggling to the DRC is nothing out of the ordinary.
The driver of one other truck sped off upon noticing police presence while the the owner of the mealie meal, only identified as Bupe Mutale, 36, has since been apprehended.
Copperbelt Province police chief Peacewell Mweemba said police in Ndola that Inspector Ronal Mparo impounded two Sino trucks carrying 1, 896 by 25 kilograms bags of Jambo mealie meal which was assembled and allegedly concealed for purposes of being smuggled to the DRC through Senior Chief Chiwala’s area.
We recall that the Patriotic Front administration even stationed the Zambia National Service to guard against smuggling along the porous border with Congo DR. The ZNS to our understanding are still on the ground.
We do not agree with assertions that millers opt to export mealie meal leaving nothing for home consumption.
This is an accusation that the Millers Association of Zambia has often refuted. After all, the law allows them to export a certain amount of mealie meal and this has to be sanctioned by the government.
Government should therefore get to the bottom of this reported shortage before things get out of hand.
The scramble for the seized mealie meal that was being sold at the Ndola High Court for K100 for a 25-kg bag should be a wake-up call to the government that it needs to act and ensure that supplies are normalised – and price as well.
We agree with the Economic Freedom Fighters which has called on the Minister of Agriculture and his colleagues to put in measures that could help rectify the problem.
