. Kampamba

By CHUSA SICHONE –
THE Zambian Government has distanced itself from direct or indirect involvement in the alleged Zambia-Malawi maize gate scandal, describing the accusations as mere falsehoods.
Chief Government Spokesperson Kampamba Mulenga charged that the persistent attacks by United People’s Progressive (UPP) party leader Saviour Chishimba were totally baseless, misplaced and lacking credibility.
Ms Mulenga clarified that in a spirit of good neighbourliness, President Edgar Lungu and his Malawian counterpart Peter Mutharika went into an agreement to facilitate the Zambian grain dealers that had sufficient maize stocks to trade with their Malawian colleagues.
“Government wishes to dispel allegations being peddled by some people in some sections of the media that Government was involved in the alleged Zambia- Malawi maize gate scandal. To the contrary, the
Zambian Government was not directly or indirectly linked to the transaction,” she said.
Ms Kampamba, who is Information and Broadcasting Services minister, said the Government only played a facilitatory role through the ministry of Agriculture by waiving the maize export ban.
Ms Kampamba noted that only Zambia and Tanzania were food secure in terms of cereal sufficiency at the height of maize shortage in Malawi and the region following severe drought that hit the entire Southern Africa.
She said that Zambia had continued receiving requests from neighbouring countries to waive the maize export ban, with the latest being the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which sent a delegation a week ago to confer with the Zambian Government.
Ms Kampamba disclosed that the Zambian Government had since allowed its DRC counterpart to buy 25,000 metric tonnes from grain dealers in the country.
Ms Kampamba said further that arising from the imminent hunger threat that faced the nation, one of the stop gap measures the Government employed was to slap a ban on the exportation of maize until further notice.
Zambia National Service officers and other law enforcement wings were deployed to man the borders through which maize and mealie-meal were being smuggled to the neighbouring countries.
Ms Kampamba said it was important for people aspiring to the highest office in the land to be factual when discussing issues of national interest.
“Government will not be swayed from helping its neighbours by persistent attacks from one- man party leaders like Dr Chishimba,” she said.