IT is obvious that Government does not have answers to the reported shortage of mealie meal in some parts of the country and the high prices on the market.
Instead, what the nation is being treated to is an established tradition as exemplified by Copperbelt Province Minister Elisha Matambo at the weekend.
Mr Matambo made an impromptu visit to some of the Ndola-based millers to ascertain the cause of mealie-meal crisis in the region.
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 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.
Mr Matambo during the visit did not make any policy statement as to how Government would ensure that the persistent shortage is resolved.
Instead, he repeated what the public has heard before, that “we are warning mealie-meal smugglers on the Copperbelt that they will be visited by the law should they continue with their trend.”
He said Government would not allow unscrupulous people to continue sabotaging the country’s food security policy.
“ Anyone who will be found guilty of smuggling mealie-meal will have their licences revoked and their vehicles forfeited to the state.
“We reiterated our position that millers must also be transparent, when offloading mealie-meal on the market and done timely,” Mr Matambo said.
As we have noted before, smuggling of mealie meal to Congo DR is not a new phenomenon that can be used as an excuse for the ongoing shortage.
What the nation wants to know is where the mealie meal is going since the government has assured that the country has more than enough maize with the Food Reserve Agency.
Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo Phiri says the FRA, has continuously been releasing maize on the market to ensure constant supply of mealie meal to millers.
According to Mr Phiri, FRA is holding 342, 135.52 metric tonnes of maize at strategic grain reserves.
Mr Phiri said FRA has released maize onto the local market, and prices of mealie meal would have stabilised with no risk of having abnormal prices on the local market.
The Minister has emphasised that the national strategic food reserve is sufficiently stocked and the country has adequate capacity to address any short to medium term threats to the stability of mealie meal prices.
It is not good enough to be repeating that there are enough stocks of maize in the country when consumers are not able to find it in their shops and at a price they can afford.
It is like in the health sector where hospitals and clinics are facing a crippling shortage of medicines while government officials maintain that there are adequate stocks – after making much-publicised visits.
