Govt. order Kitwe City Council to revoke licenses of traders selling mealie meal above Kr 50

Kitwe District Commissioner Elias Kamanga has directed Kitwe City Council to immediately revoke trading licenses from mealie- Meal retailers selling the commodity at aboveKR50.
Mr Kamanga has also directed the Police in the district to assist the local authority in closing all the shops that have not complied to the presidential directive on the mealie-meal price.

ZANIS reports that in a letter addressed to Kitwe Town Clerk Bonwell Luanga and Copied to Copperbelt province minister, permanent secretary and the police commanding officer in Kitwe today, Mr Kamanga said non-compliance by the retailers to the presidential directive over the price of mealie-meal can not be continued unabated.

He said the move by millers and retailers to continue exploiting the public through high mealie-meal prices was arrogance of the highest order which may even lead to public despondency if is not stopped.

The District Commissioner observed that mealie-meal in the district has continued to escalate despite a presidential directive to have the commodity reduced to not more that K50,000.

The price of mealie-meal has been sky-rocketing in some parts of the country with millers and retailers attributing the rising prices to the high cost of transport and the high cost of the maize from farmers.

But government feels the high prices can not be justified as millers were now buying subsidized maize from farmers.