Kasama farmers march to police to demand their money from FRA

——Government has assured farmers in Kasama and other areas that frantic efforts were being made to ensure that the money owed to them by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was paid.

 

On Wednesday, scores of irate farmers from Kasama and Mungwi districts in Northern Province gave government a two-day ultimatum in which to pay money owed to them by the FRA failure to which they would withdraw their maize.

 

Today, the incensed farmers marched to Mansa Police Station in a bid to carry out their threats.

 

But addressing the farmers at Kasama Police Station, Northern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary, Boniface Mbuzi, said government was working to find money to pay them.

 

Mr Mbuzi appealed for patience from the farmers, saying the government had clearly understood their plight.

 

The farmers appealed to government to quickly clear them so that they go back to their respective places to start preparing for the next season.

 

They said they feared that the delay in processing their payments could have a negative effect on their farming activities in the 2014/ 2015 farming season.

The farmers added that they had been subjected to anguish as they have no money to support their families, adding that it was unfair for Government to hold on to the money because they equally had financial problems to attend to.