Mealie-meal shortage hits Kitwe City, again!

 Kitwe City , the hub of the Copperbelt province has again been hit with a shortage of mealie-meal.

The commodity is scarce and is fetching  about KR65 and above in most retail shops.

Meanwhile mealie- meal traders have complained that they are forced to sell the commodity at over KR 50, because they were buying it at KR50 from retailers.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Kitwe today, traders who did not disclose their identity for fear of being blacklisted by millers said they were not able to buy mealie-meal in bulk from the millers because the millers were not willing to wholesale the Commodity at KR47 due to high production costs.

The traders appealed to government to ensure that Millers start to wholesale mealie-meal so that they can also comply with the Presidential directive on the mealie-meal price.

This is the second time Kitwe is being hit by Mealie-meal shortage within  a spell of about two months but the shortage of Mealie- Meal has persisted in various parts of the country of late.

Copperbelt Province Minister Mwenya Musenge who yesterday toured Mpongwe and Chat Milling Companies appealed to the two Millers to ensure that they sell the commodity at KR47 to retailers so that they can in turn comply with the presidential directives of selling the commodity at KR 50.

Mr Musenge also urged the Milling Companies to ensure that they do not sell more than two bags of mealie-meal to one person to ensure that every one is able to buy.

The minister has further appealed to the millers to first satisfy the local demand for mealie-meal before they can export the commodity.

Mr Musenge further called for the establishment of a list of reliable retailers who should be supplied with mealie-meal so that consumers are not exploited by unscrupulous retailers.