CONTINUED MEALIE MEAL SHORTAGE WORRYING - PF

THE UPND risks being kicked out of government unless it takes steps to address the continued shortage of mealie meal resulting into citizens queuing for the commodity that is not only in short supply and has become too expensive for the majority of Zambians, Brian Mundubile has warned.

Mr Mundubile has stated that the failure by the Hakainde Hichilema administration that had promised cheaper food in opposition to feed citizens was a recipe for revolt because a hungry citizen is an angry person.

He has called on Government to urgently resolve the mealie meal crisis by ensuring that private millers fully participate in the supplying of the commodity to all regions by getting rid of restrictions that had been frustrating private millers.

“The UPND should unreservedly render an apology to Zambians for failing to meet one of their basic needs of providing food. Zambians are being subjected to untold miseries and hardships under the watch of the UPND government that had promised that things shall be better, cheaper and easier. Had it been that it was an act of God or some natural calamity, we would have understood and sympathized with President Hichilema and his government,” Mr Mundubile said.

“We had strongly warned this government against selling the 150 million metric tonnes of maize they inherited but it was to be Mr Mtolo Phiri, the Minister of Agriculture to boast that the country had enough even for four years. He claimed the country was food secure and today, here we are…Zambians are sleeping on queues to buy a bag of mealie meal while on the other hand, Government is importing GMO mealie meal from South Africa. Mealie meal will bring down President Hichilema if he is not going to make it affordable and easily accessible,” he said.

Mr Mundubile said it was irresponsible for the UPND government to choose to satisfy the interests of their private interest against public good by selling all the maize it had inherited from the Patriotic Front (PF) government only to come and begin importing GMO mealie meal to feed Zambians.

“As a result of that irresponsible decision to sell all the maize, Zambians have gone back 30 years and are queuing for mealie meal. Zambians deserve nothing but an apology from President Hichilema and his government. This government should be able to treat all businesses equally. The few remaining employers in Zambia today are the millers but even with that, they are facing serious restrictions in their business by not being able to get permits in good time so that they can penetrate certain regions which have been hit by mealie meal shortages,” Mr Mundubile said.