Rupiah is caught in his own web of lies – Sata

Rupiah is caught in his own web of lies – Sata
Written by Mwala Kalaluka, Kabanda Chulu, Chiwoyu Sinyangwe and Fridah Zinyama
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 6:50:21 AM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata yesterday said President Rupiah Banda had been caught in his own web of lies in view of the rising prices of mealie-meal in the country.

And UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said Zambians should brace for hard and chaotic times ahead in view of the worrisome increase in mealie-meal prices that have followed the election of Banda as President.

Meanwhile, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) executive director Mulima Akapelwa has said the prices of mealie-meal must not be left to the whims of the market forces because the people will die of hunger.

Commenting on the increase in mealie- meal prices across the country, Sata said President Banda's deceptive pledge of reducing mealie-meal prices during the election campaign had backfired on him given the current unusual increase in the cost of the commodity.

Sata said he was grateful that the people of Zambia were able to notice the MMD's tirade of electoral campaign lies less than a month after the presidential election.

Sata reminded Zambians that he had described National Milling Corporation managing director Peter Cottan's reduction of mealie-meal prices prior to last month's presidential election as UNIP electioneering and that the state of affairs had vindicated his assertions.

"I am glad it has not taken even one month and Rupiah Banda has been caught in his own web of lies. It is not just the mealie-meal, even the kwacha has gone berserk. All the lies of Rupiah Banda are coming out so early less than a month," Sata said. "What we have been saying is that people should speak the truth and nothing but the truth. These people have got no truth."

Sata said it would not take long before President Banda is sorted out by the situation because he opted to be economical with the truth during the election campaigns.

"I told you during the campaign that all these promises to reduce prices, he was just dreaming them up and announcing. He did not plan properly and he did not even consult the Minister of Finance," Sata said. "So even the reduction of fuel is unsustainable because it was not properly planned. All they wanted was to cheat people. They just hoodwinked people. But they are going to catch him because when I was saying that they were lying during the campaign, they said I was being malicious. I am grateful. I have been vindicated that the man did not mean well and now he has been caught in his web of cheating."

And Hichilema said he was not surprised that the prices of the commodity, which is the country's staple food, had skyrocketed days after the re-election of the MMD into the government.

"It is the responsibility of any government worth its salt to make sure that its citizens have enough food," Hichilema said. "I am not surprised that the mealie-meal prices shot up because they are a reflection of the poor MMD agricultural policies."

Hichilema said it was clear from the skyrocketing prices of mealie-meal that the MMD government had failed.

"You can see that inflation is now at 15 per cent plus. Food inflation alone is about 17 per cent plus; that is where you see mealie-meal prices at K75,000 for a 25 kg bag. Many Zambians will not be able to afford it," he said. "We have tough times ahead because we have put a party that is tired in power. You are going to see a lot of economic pressures. The kwacha will be under pressure very soon. I am talking to you as an expert."

Hichilema said the current drop in copper prices on the international market would experience a further downward trend.

"The demand for copper where they use it, they have a financial crisis," he said. "I can tell you that within the next one or two years, you will see chaos in the country; chaos arising from the pressure from the cost of living. Many of our people will not afford to have food. Many of our people will not afford to go to school. You will see Kanyama when the rains come, it will be floods again."

However, Hichilema said the MMD had no choice but to ensure that the mealie-meal prices were brought to affordable levels.

"The people of Zambia must demand of the MMD government. Rupiah Banda as Head of State, he was promising people of reducing mealie-meal prices when campaigning but now that he is in office, mealie-meal prices are increasing. We ask the people not to request the MMD government but to demand for a reduction of mealie-meal prices," Hichilema said. "This is what the people of Zambia must understand when they go to vote. They must not vote for somebody just because they speak their language. Put in place a team then deliver."

The price of mealie-meal has continued to increase, by over 40 per cent in less than two weeks, with a 25 kilogramme bag of breakfast meal currently pegged at K75,000.

Meanwhile, Akapelwa said now was the right time to offload the surplus maize which the government claimed to have in stock.

"We understand there have been poor harvests in areas that were affected by floods but government stated that the country recorded a maize surplus but why can't they offload it on the market because this is the right time to make available the maize commodity," Akapelwa said. "And this issue of increasing prices of mealie-meal must not be left to free market forces because people will die of hunger whilst their government is watching."

She also questioned the role of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in the equation.

"The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number one is to halve hunger and eliminate poverty by 2015 and with what is happening, do you think Zambia will attain this goal?" Akapelwa asked. "And if FRA has been stocking up maize, why can't they come in and make available whatever they have been stock piling because what is happening about high food prices is just a sign of worse things."

But Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary, Davidson Chilipamushi, attributed the increase in mealie-meal prices to the smuggling of maize out of Zambia to other low grain available countries in the region.

He said the maize projections for the current season, which indicated that the country had a maize surplus of 120 metric tonnes, have not been accurate.

"The whole region has a deficit, except Malawi and South Africa which have surplus. And because of this problem, despite the Ministry of Agriculture having controlled the exports of maize, it has been getting out in one way or another, there are a lot seepage, to these economies that have a deficit," Chilipamushi said.

Chilipamushi explained that the 'limited' participation of the FRA coupled with the exhaustion of the grain from the small holder farmers had exacerbated the situation.

He observed that the price of maize on the local market was also very high.

"Right now the maize that came from small holder farmers has been exhausted and the maize we have is coming from commercial farmers and the millers," explained Chilipamushi. "So the maize that we are consuming right now is more expensive than that one which was coming from small holder farmers. You will recall that the millers also went into the market and were purchasing maize at a higher price and were paying spot cash unlike FRA which was taking about a week to pay and FRA did not buy for reserves this year. So we are left with maize from commercial farmers and millers who borrowed to buy maize, so the maize is generally expensive at the moment. The economic fundamentals have changed so [the] only way out right now is for us to immediately look for alternative source of maize, cheaper, from wherever we can get it."

And Zambia Congress of Trade of Unions (ZCTU) first vice-president Sam Phiri said the increase in mealie-meal prices was very worrying and could threaten the country's national security.

Phiri said it was unfortunate that the mealie-meal prices had been hiked barely two weeks after the new government took over.

"We expect the new government to put urgent measures in place that will immediately deal with this unacceptable problem especially that maize is our staple food and we cannot have a situation where prices go as high as K75,000 when the majority of the people are living in abject poverty," said Phiri. "People will soon lose trust in this government if they fail to quickly address the problem of high mealie-meal prices and as ZCTU we will support this government if the actions they take are humane and address the people's daily challenges."