Mealie meal conundrum

VIDEOS of huge crowds of men and women chasing after Zambia National Service (ZNS) Eagle mealie meal is a very disturbing spectacle which deserves serious attention.

What has gone wrong?

Why should there be such long and snaking queues reminiscent of the Kenneth Kaunda coupon days? The Government must explain why it is allowing subsidized Eagle mealie meal produced by ZNS to compete and destabilize the market, thereby creating the political spectacle.

The Minister of Agriculture Mtolo Phiri must as matters of urgency explain to the nation the context in which the ZNS finds itself at the center of what should ordinarily be a civilian commercial operation.

It is only in the last one year that the ZNS has emerged as a player in this milling industry.

For decades since independence, Zambians have depended on private millers to produces and distribute this staple food to the total satisfaction of the internal and external market. There is no question that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has always been the extra Province and therefore by default part of the food security matrix.

Of course, at one stage under the KK era, trade with the DRC was demonized as “smuggling” but the new regime of President Frederick Chiluba recognized the inevitable and allowed the informal trade.

The situation seems to have changed. The State is now the principal smuggler of maize and mealie meal to the exclusion of the private sector. Where individuals benefitted before, the State is now benefitting in a manner that lacks transparency.

Instead of assuaging the situation, Eagle mealie meal is playing a very disruptive political role, exposing incompetence and inability. Those long queues do not speak well of t state management, more so that, it is common knowledge that Eagle Mealie meal is heavily subsidized from taxes.

Eagle mealie meal is a few Kwacha cheaper because the producers are fully employed by the State, unlike private millers who must source their own supplies and bear the full brunt of other production costs, including electricity, transport and other costs.

However apart from other consideration, the entire maize conundrum must be explained to the nation. There is tremendous confusion, which unless clarified will lead to the conclusion of large scale corruption benefiting a few people.

Zambians would like to know why we are expected to import maize from Uganda and Tanzania when the Minister told Parliament that we had sufficient stocks to last two years. What has happened to these stock?

An explanation is called for, first we sold stocks, then declared we had sufficient stocks and now we stand ready to import. What going on?

PURSUING JUSTICE AND EQUITY WITH INTERGRITY