Lusaka Retailers increase mealie meal prices – Mwenya Musenge

Retailers in Lusaka Province have increased mealie meal prices by up to four kwacha.

The price hike has basically been triggered by the rise in fuel pump prices announced by the Energy Regulation Board ERB on Tuesday this week.

Retailers in other regions of the country will definitely follow suit and increase mealie meal prices.

This will be premised on the understanding that the marginal cost for producing a unit bag of mealie meal increased.

The increase in the price of the staple commodity has already received justification from the Miller’s Association of Zambia MAZ.

As NDC, we are concerned with the souring hike in the price of commodities.

Our people are indeed suffering and experiencing the worst form of economic doldrums in history at the hands of the Pf regime.

Government should have found a way of mitigating this uncalled for fuel hike.

Why should Zambia have the highest cost of fuel in the region?

Even in countries such as the DRC Congo that have been in war for several years, fuel in that country is cheaper and affordable.

The problem we have with this Pf regime is that they are so many middle men involved in the procurement of fuel.

This Government can mitigate this unreasonable fuel hike if all such bottle necks in the fuel supply chain are looked into critically.

The Pf Government should be sensitive in what ever it does.

Apart from mealie meal, we expect commodity prices to go up on almost all essential commodities owing to the hike in fuel prices.

The increase in mealie meal prices has killed our people.

Our people are already suffering as they are living on less than a dollar per day.

Those in the corridors of power seem to be blinded with the temporal comfort they are living with now.

They have simply forgotten the mandate that the Zambian people gave them.

But to the police officer, teacher and civil servant, the rise in the price of mealie meal and other commodities is even severe.

If you look at the civil servants for instance, Government awarded them a four percent pay rise which is far unreasonable.

Surely, how do you expect public service worker’s to comprehend with such price rises?

To our people, we urge you to be patient.

Time is coming when you shall be given an opportunity to oust this insensitive regime through the ballot.

This is a regime that has lamentably failed to rule Zambia.

In the year 2016, Edgar Lungu went to Saudi Arabia and signed a deal for cheap fuel.

What has gone wrong with the Saudi oil deal?

Lungu is not sincere. The price of fuel has swelled because Lungu is using proxies, his friends and family to supply fuel.

It is these middle men that are stealing from Zambians.

If the Zambian Government really cared for its people, we should have considered buying crude oil from Angola.

This Government should have seriously exploited this venture and opportunity of creating synergies with the Angolan Government on fuel supply.

The rise in mealie meal prices means nothing to Lungu and his minions. They simply don’t care.

Lungu should not forget about the food riots of 1990.

The cost of living and mealie meal in particular caused those uprising’s and cost Kaunda his job.

To the people of Zambia, are you going to wait until we are strangled further?

Issued by: Mwenya Musenge. NDC Secretary General.