. Lungu

By REBECCA MUSHOTA  in Mkushi –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has warned millers against effecting unreasonable price hikes of mealie-meal as the move is tantamount to economic sabotage.
President Lungu said it is economic sabotage for millers to increase mealie-meal prices when the price at which they bought the maize had been reduced.
Mr Lungu said at a rally in Mkushi yesterday that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was selling maize to millers cheaply and the price of mealie-meal should, therefore, not exceed K70.
“Why should a maize growing area like Mkushi have expensive mealie-meal? “I wish to warn milling companies that we will not allow our people to be exploited,” Mr Lungu said.
He said as a President, he did not want to be pushed to interfere with the market but if he was left without a choice, he would do so.
He urged millers to engage Government quickly on the problems that they could be facing in the production of the staple food.
The President said Government had since embarked on a programme to set up solar powered milling plants to ensure that mealie-meal was cheap.
He urged the public to come up with cooperatives to enable them to run the milling plants themselves.
He said it was wrong for civil servants to steal fertilizer meant for farmers as the situation was in Central Province.
One person has been arrested in connection with the theft.
The President also directed the Road Development Agency (RDA) and the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to investigate why Keren Motors, a local contractor given a contract to rehabilitate one of the main roads in Mkushi had taken three years to complete the works.
At the site with the contractor earlier, Mr Lungu told the RDA board chairperson Samuel Mukupa to sort out the problem because it seemed the road project was costing the Government more.
“These are the things that make you as RDA look like you are colluding with us and the contractor to steal from people,” President Lungu said.
The contractor Kibiom Berhani said the project was taking long because they were getting raw materials like stones from Luanshya and Kafue.
Mr Lungu said local contractors should instead be doing quick and reasonable jobs to remain competitive.
Mr Lungu said Zambian contractors should improve their operations so as to open up opportunities to others.
Earlier in the morning, President Lungu met teacher representatives who shared with him their challenges.
President Lungu said he would constitute a new Teacher Service Commission to deal with the issues raised.
Mr Lungu also urged the unions to be proactive in dealing with problems
Meanwhile, Itala Market in Mkushi came to a standstill when President Lungu walked through the market.
The President spoke to the marketeers and the residents while others jostled to have a glimpse of him.
When word went round that the President was at the market, many residents rushed there eventually blocking traffic and gave the security a hard time.
In a related development, Farmers in Mkushi have hailed President Edgar Lungu’s efforts to develop agriculture in Zambia and have pledged to work with him to realise Government objectives.
Representing the farmers, Andrew Moffat said farmers were happy that Mr Lungu had prioritized agriculture.
“It is obvious that agriculture is important to you looking at the agriculture forums you have attended and the pronouncements you have made. We are very grateful for that and for finding time to meet with us,” Mr Moffat said.
This was said on Tuesday evening when the farmers met Mr Lungu in Mkushi for a meeting.
He said the farmers would do their part to boost the development of agriculture.
In order to do  that, Mr Moffat said there was need for consistency in exports and other policies because inconsistencies made the sector inefficient.
Mr Moffat said Mkushi farmers were proud to be a model of a private sector driven economy and a large employer that was capable of doing much more if barriers were removed.
President Lungu said Government was consciously endeavoring to make policies consistent.
“The difference with me is that I want to be the President that walks the talk in agriculture development,” President Lungu said.
He said he was holding discussions with the relevant ministries so as to increase the agriculture budget.
Government was working on reducing the cost of production and could waiver taxes that were oppressive on the farmers and cumbersome to the tax collector.