.SCOTT

By JULIUS PHIRI in Vubwi –

VICE-PRESIDENT Guy Scott has said the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) will next week resume buying maize in Vubwi District after the exercise was suspended to pay the farmers who were owed by the Agency.
Dr Scott dispelled allegations that the FRA had closed this year’s maize purchasing exercise in Vubwi and other parts of Eastern Province.
Addressing a rally in Vubwi yesterday, Dr Scott said the FRA would resume the buying of maize by next week.
He said that the Agency had only stopped buying maize to clear the backlog of farmers who had not been paid after selling their commodity to the agency.
Dr Scott was speaking at a rally to drum up support for the Patriotic Front (PF) candidate in the forthcoming Vubwi by-election, Margaret Miti.
The Vice-President said the Government would try by all means to mop up all the maize from the farmers through the smooth running of the buying exercise.
He apologised to the farmers in Vubwi for the delay by FRA in paying them their dues after selling their maize to the Agency.
He said he would not be a Vice-President for Zambia forever but that time would come for him to retire and become a common man.
Speaking earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba appealed to people to give a resounding vote to Ms Miti in the forthcoming parliamentary by-election slated for September 11 this year.
Ms Miti, who knelt before the electorate, pleaded with the people to vote for her in the by-election so that she could develop Vubwi through the ruling party.
Dr Eustarckio Kazonga is standing on the MMD ticket, Lucas Phiri on UNIP, Alfonso Phiri on UPND while Charles Nyoka is the FDD candidate.