Maravi

LETTERS - Maize, Cold Chains

Maize going to waste in Chisamba
By Concerned citizen
Thursday March 20, 2008 [03:00]

I wish to inform you that FRA Chisamba depot managed by Chibombo Cooperative Union has too many bags of Maize going to waste or rotting due to mismanagement by the union through negligence and lack of expert manpower to manage the maize. The maize is currently kept on the slab on the Western side of the offices; more maize is likely to go to waste because they are using plastics to cover it instead of the canvas type.

Please investigate why we are exporting maize when we are likely to record a deficit due to floods. There are more than 30 trucks waiting to load the maize and deliver to Zimbabwe; you cannot help your neighbour’s children when your own are suffering.
You The Post have been a voice of the voiceless for a long time now.

May the good Lord guide and protect you in all your future endeavours. I am proud of you please expose this scandal.


Maize going to waste in Chisamba

Editor,
I wish to inform you that FRA Chisamba depot managed by Chibombo Cooperative Union has too many bags of Maize going to waste or rotting due to mismanagement by the union through negligence and lack of expert manpower to manage the maize.

The maize is currently kept on the slab on the Western side of the offices; more maize is likely to go to waste because they are using plastics to cover it instead of the canvas type.

Please investigate why we are exporting maize when we are likely to record a deficit due to floods. There are more than 30 trucks waiting to load the maize and deliver to Zimbabwe; you cannot help your neighbour’s children when your own are suffering.
You The Post have been a voice of the voiceless for a long time now.

May the good Lord guide and protect you in all your future endeavours. I am proud of you please expose this scandal.



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=39316

Teta, Hikaumba's remarks
By Sunday Chanda
Thursday March 20, 2008 [03:00]

It must be very gratifying for the Patriotic Front when MMD spokesperson Ben Tetamashimba acknowledges indirectly that the PF is the strongest party in the country, hence the calling on other parties to team up and dislodge the PF.

I have never heard of a ruling party teaming up with opposition parties to defeat an opposition party. Indeed, Sata must have something to smile about.

Again, the remarks by Tetamashimba that they will consider fielding the expelled PF MPs in any forthcoming by-election speaks volumes about the nature, state and capacity of the MMD as a political structure and indeed their levels of desperation. It is this desperation that has killed the MMD.

The desperate manoeuvres by the MMD to get other political parties into some electoral pact so as to deal with the PF is not attainable and only briefcase parties would yield to this call.

Any serious political party will have the line of authority clearly spelt out as we have seen with structures such as the ANC in South Africa, PF in Zambia and many other examples.

There is no way that a political party can exist without a vice-president and that is why many of us contend that the present succession confusion in the MMD is President Mwanawasa’s own making.

The MMD is nothing without President Mwanawasa at State House and this is the truth they do not want to face. The MMD, out of office, would be worse than UNIP and this hard truth will confront them in any by-election the nation may have between now and 2011. The tripartite election of 2011 will be the final nail into the coffin of this political party.

ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba's analysis of the expulsions is simplistic and lacks noble judgment as he does not see anything wrong with the government wasting money on the NCC because he is a beneficiary.

It is surprising that the expulsion of the PF MPs has opened Hikaumba's eyes to realise that the roads in this country were in a desperate condition and needed attention. It is no wonder the labour movement in this country is at its weakest point because mediocre leadership has ascended to the helm of it. This level of compromise by Hikaumba has betrayed the aspirations of the workers in this country as they continue to wallow in poverty and their leader is getting allowances at the NCC.

By-elections will always be a consequence in any democracy and people such as Hikaumba must be well alive to that effect. The argument that by-elections are unnecessary since they consume a lot of our resources as a nation is neither here nor there since political parties are expected to ensure that the line of duty is not frustrated by its members and those who do must be disciplined.


It is also important that MPs understand that it is wrong to misrepresent the people and that the sponsoring party must be respected at all times. Even when you talk about dialogue, which dialogue is Hikaumba referring to? Political parties, like any other organisation should not just dialogue for the sake of the word but must reach a point where they agree to disagree – it’s also called democracy because much as individual members have rights, the party as an institution equally has rights.

In Bemba they say umuchinshi wanseba, kwimina pamo (referring to the fact that birds will always flock together and their respect and beauty lies in that pattern). The expulsions are a good lesson for those affected and their imminent loss in the subsequent by-elections will even be a greater lesson.

Zambians deserve MPs who will represent them wholeheartedly and not those who think they are much wiser than the collective wisdom of the electorate. As a matter of principle, these MPs changing political camps like shirts, also known as political 'crosstitutes', must be taught that it is wrong to take the people for granted. Consistency is the key and one cannot be a hyena today and a lion tomorrow.

There must be a change of attitude among our politicians, who will support a particular party during the general election and the moment their party president does not get to Plot One, their allegiance shifts to the government in power. Some of the expelled MPs are reported to have insulted MMD and President Mwanawasa during the last elections and now that it is convenient for them, they would want to use the MMD! Does this also mean that the MMD lacks credible members to field as candidates for them to go for those rejected by an opposition party?

The tide must change now and this starts when the electorate understand that they have the power to hire and fire, hence the need for them to vote in huge numbers. The desperate move by the MMD to field these expelled MPs is a welcome development and it is obvious that there is nothing to write home about regarding these individuals. Their performance will be far much worse than Chimumbwa’s in Chingola because they have stood on the wrong side of the people.

Once again, farewell to the expelled MPs of the PF! We await your attempts to defend the seats on MMD’s ticket. Congratulations to the PF for setting a good precedent in ensuring that comrades deployed to serve the people do not get away with compromise.

The Bembas say umulembwe wacipuba upwila muli tumfwe (literally meaning that a fool will finish all his okra just by tasting). It’s a lesson to some of these colleagues and comrades who will finish their political careers in a hurried and disrespectful manner because they are politically constipated!



http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=39329
Use of cold chains
By J. Muloboi
Thursday March 20, 2008 [03:00]

Please allow me to comment on HH's outburst on the use of cold chains in livestock movement as appeared in the Monday March 17, 2008 edition of The Post newspaper. In case he has just woken up from slumber, cold chains in livestock movement are what has been used by the government for a long time now in fighting livestock diseases in the country.

For instance, live animals have not been allowed to be transported from Western Province. Currently, the same is happening in Southern Province. In exceptional cases, live animals are only allowed to move under veterinary escort and in a convoy for animals going straight for slaughter.

Eastern Province's disease situation has been complicated by an endemic disease of East Coast Fever and Swine Fever still being tackled by the Veterinary Department.

Lastly, Hichilema stabs himself by saying that the MMD is flat and can’t think about encouraging ranching in the country for purposes of exporting beef products. Doesn't he know that his MPs are contemplating demarcating and sharing some existing productive ranches like Batoka to themselves? Certainly he doesn't seem to know since his administration is mainly influenced by the majority type of people who surround him - his relatives. Therefore, if MMD is flat on this issue, then HH flatters the nation.

Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, CATTLE DISEASE, LEONARD HIKAUMBA, MAIZE

posted by MrK @ 4:51 PM