Veep blames PF for delay in fertiliser distribution
Written by MRadio on March 26, 2022
By SIMON MUNTEMBA
THE delay in delivering the 2021/2022 farm inputs should be blamed on previous Patriotic Front (PF) government, Vice President Mutale Nalumango has said.
Ms Nalumango said the undesirable situation of late fertiliser distribution was not a reflection of failure on party of the new dawn administration.
She said this in a ministerial statement in Parliament on measures being undertaken to provide relief food to Petauke District and other hunger stricken areas.
This was after on March 16, Petauke Central Member of Parliament, Emmanuel Banda raised a point of order in which he asked the Vice President to provide relief food to the farmers in his constituency who had no food because of drought and late distribution of fertilizer.
Mr Banda said 90 percent of people of Petauke depended on farming for their staple food (nsima), but were starving due to erratic rains pattern compounded by late delivery of top dressing fertilizer (Urea) .
“This is when they are receiving top dressing fertilizer. They do not have food because they received the rains late due to climate change. So they are asking for relief food to cushion the impact of hunger,’ Mr Banda said.
But in delivering a ministerial statement, Ms Nalumango said the blame should be on the PF regime which procured the inputs.
“I wish to inform the House that the undesirable situation in Petauke whereby farmers are only applying top dressing fertilizer now is not a reflection of failure on the part of the new dawn government.
“The previous administration should be the one to blame for failure to provide our farmers in Petauke with fertilizer on time,” Ms Nalumango said
She also said it was important to note that the fertilizer was not delivered even though in some cases, it was fully paid for.
