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(TIMES) Offload FRA maize, urges Nawakwi

Offload FRA maize, urges Nawakwi
By Times Reporter

FORUM for Democracy and Development (FDD) president, Edith Nawakwi has advised the Government to offload the maize held in strategic reserves by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to curb the increasing prices of mealie meal.

Ms Nawakwi advised the new Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister, Brian Chituwo to direct the FRA to release the maize held in strategic reserves to check the rising prices of mealie meal.

But Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Brian Chituwo said he would be meeting the FRA today to discuss the issue.

Ms Nawakwi said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the Government should not be pleading with the millers to reduce the prices of mealie meal when it could solve the problem by releasing on the market the maize kept in strategic reserves.

She said in critical moments like this, the Government should not rely on the private sector to come to its aid.

Ms Nawakwi said if the FRA did not have enough maize in its strategic reserves, it should be allowed to import more and later resell at affordable prices.

Ms Nawakwi said the FDD remained focused and would continue to offer checks and balances to the Government.

She said where necessary, the party would be able to advise the Government on matters of national importance as it had done on the escalating mealie meal prices.

Ms Nawakwi also said the FDD had started preparing itself for the 2011 general elections.

Ms Nawakwi said the party like some other opposition political parties supported the ruling MMD during the October, 30, presidential election to allow the party finish its term of office and promote peace.

Ms Nawakwi said Zambians should invest in peace and urged those fanning tension in the country to stop.

“Now that there is peace in the country, we can organise our party. We want peace and can only have one president at a time,” she said.

Ms Nawakwi said her party did not support the MMD in order to get favours such as jobs.

“Our agenda is very clear. We are going to contest the 2011 elections. We are campaigning and organising people for 2011. We went in to help them complete their term of office and no deals were made,” she said.

She said the Republican constitution had a vacum on the aspect of who becames president in an event that the incumbent died.

She said this needed to be corrected and the FDD in the interim saw it fit to support the MMD, which was in office to complete the term of office after the death of President Mwanawasa for the sake of continuity and peace.

Ms Nawakwi said if the Constitution was clear as to who took over in an event where the president died, Zambians would not have been subjected to the unnecessary election, which had brought about tension among its people.

And Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) executive director Songowayo Zyambo has said in an interview that commercial farmers had either already sold their maize or committed to millers.

Mr Zyambo said because farmers had to prepare for the current farming season, they had already sold their crop to raise funds to finance the 2008/9 farming season.

He could not tell at how much the farmers that might have the maize could sell the staple food during this period of the year.

Labels: EDITH NAWAKWI, FRA, MAIZE

posted by MrK @ 10:52 PM