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(NYASATIMES) Malawi President’s speech on the deportation of tobacco ‘colonialists’

Malawi President’s speech on the deportation of tobacco ‘colonialists’
By Nyasa Times
Published: September 9, 2009

My Fellow Malawians,

Yesterday (8th Sepetember, 2009) I ordered the deportation from our country of four foreign tobacco buyers namely Mr. Kelvin Stainton and Mr. Van de Merwe of Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company, Mr. Collin Armstrong of Alliance One and Mr. Alex Mackay of Premium TAMA.

These individuals connived to deliberately frustrate the policy of this government to improve the welfare of our people through better prices of tobacco.

For a long time they have continued to exploit the poor people of Malawi by offering them much lower prices than those offered in neighbouring countries.

In doing so, they have been sabotaging the Malawi economy and have been harming the very people who grow tobacco for them to buy.

My Fellow Malawians, you will recall that at the beginning of the tobacco marketing season for 2009 the government had entered into an agreement with tobacco companies in Malawi that burley tobacco will not be sold at prices lower than US$2.50 per kilogramme.

Similarly, it had been agreed that flue cured tobacco would be sold at not less than US$3.09 per kilogramme.

These prices had not been fixed arbitrarily. Let me repeat. These prices were not fixed arbitrarily but through negotiations taking into account the cost of inputs and other considerations.

You will also recall that the government of Malawi has declared tobacco to be a crop of national importance to our economy. Therefore anyone sabotaging our economy is an enemy of the people of Malawi.

Anyone sabotaging our economy is an enemy of the people of Malawi and does not deserve to be in this country.

But to the dismay of the small and poor black tobacco growers, these people have chosen to undermine government by continuing to deliberately depress the prices of tobacco. They have also decided to make fun of me as your leader.

As if this not enough harm they have during this season consistently rejected the good quality tobacco and instead had opted to buy poor quality tobacco with the aim to create a pretext for them to continue to depress tobacco prices so as to make huge profits at the expense of the poor. This is contrary to their previous demand for improved quality of tobacco.

The low prices of our tobacco offered this year are totally unacceptable. In fact this is an act of hostility to our country, to the country that offered them the hospitality and the opportunity to do their business here.

I am now warning all tobacco buyers that any company that deliberately seeks to cheat the people of Malawi and ignore the agreed prices of tobacco and any similar commodity will be dealt with accordingly.

I appeal to all government departments, the immigration, the police and the general public to cooperate with government to protect the poor black Malawi farmer from this unbridled exploitation.

Similarly, I appeal to the judiciary to support government in its efforts to protect our people from continued exploitation.

God Bless our Motherland.

Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, MALAWI, NEOCOLONIALISM, TOBACCO

posted by MrK @ 5:04 PM