Government calls on citizens to avoid panic buying of mealie meal, as it claims no shortages

Government has said Zambians should not panic because there was no shortage of mealie meal in the country.

Copperbelt Provincial Minister, Elisha Matambo, said people should not to panic in buying mealie meal because there was no shortage of the commodity.

Matambo appealed to Zambians to be vigilant and help in curbing the rise in smuggling of mealie meal.

He said government had done its part in curbing smuggling of the country’s staple food and that the onus was now on citizens to do their part.

Matambo said this on Thursday morning when he addressed Defence and Security Chiefs at Kasumbalesa Border Post on the Copperbelt Province and revealed that 65,000 metric tonnes of maize for Copperbelt Province was released by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) last week.

Mutambo said another 30,000 metric tonnes of maize was released four days ago, saying 80 percent of which will be channeled to the Copperbelt.

“We expect production of mealie meal to commence so that our people can start buying the commodity at a cheaper price.

Millers are buying maize from FRA at a cheaper price and so we expect them to sell mealie meal at a reasonable price,” he said.

Matambo also commended security operatives for their stance in fighting smuggling of the commodity.

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