Malawians living on gaga like pigs – MP Harry Mkandawire

Member of Parliament for Mzimba West (PP) Harry Mkandawire said in parliament this week that the acute shortage of maize in most parts of Malawi, exacerbated by the dramatic increase in the prices of the staple food, has left thousands of desperate Malawians to resort to eating maize bran or Madeya meant for pigs.

Mkandawire:   Has Malawi gone to the pigs? The DPP government doesnt know what they are doing
Mkandawire: Has Malawi gone to the pigs? The DPP government don’t know what is going on

Malawi is experiencing an acute shortage of the  staple food.

Most families are having difficulty to cope with the maize price situation in Malawi, and according to Mkandawire, in the wake of this desperate situation, people are queuing outside milling companies and maize mills scrambling to buy bran, a by-product of maize, used mainly as feeding for poultry swine.

“I have four questions from my people from Mzimba West.  The first one, is the Minister aware that people now have resorted to buying madeya or gaga which is meant for pigs?  Are we saying this country has gone to the pigs? This is shameful.  People are living on madeya. People are living on gaga,” said Mkandawire.

Mkandawire also asked Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Allan Chiyembekeza whether President  Peter Mutharika has lived to his word by saying nobody will die of hunger in Malawi this season.

“We have heard of two kids of dying in Dedza. I will not mention how many have died in my constituency because you will not believe. But I am not surprised, because government is not aware of what is happening.  They don’t know what is going on. It is either they are ill advising the President, just to mislead him so that he becomes very unpopular,” said Mkandawire.

Outspoken Mkandawire said the DPP government is “divided” and that the leadership is exceptionally inept.

“ I am not surprised people are calling for this government to step down because they don’t know what they are doing,” said Mkandawire.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Mulanje Bale Victor Musowa   standing on a point of order asked Mkandawire  no to “dramatise issue of hunger.”

But Speaker Richard Msowoya ruled Musowa  out of order himself  for dramatising the issue.

Presenting a ministerial statement on the food situation in the country in Parliament on Monday, Chiyembekeza said Malawi  has 9 300 metric tonnes (MT) of maize in stock.

Chiyembekeza said the maize is still being collected from the warehouses within the country and some of the maize is coming from Zambia.

“So, we are mobilizing the maize and then relocating it to places where it is supposed to be,” he said.

There are long queues of maize buyers at state grain trader Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) depots throughout the country because of shortage of the staple grain.

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Maxwell Falamenga
Maxwell Falamenga
8 years ago

Mukudabwa lero , munali kuti nthawi y a Kamuzu, Bakili Muluzi?

truth
truth
8 years ago

Why can’t the MPs offer a few of their vast earnings and buy food for us who r starving? komanso a Malawi timacotseranji deya la cimanga which is the nutritious part of corn??? those who are eating madeya will be healthier poti even the germ is also there. tivomereze kuti govt ikucitapo kanthu.

truth
truth
8 years ago

Why can’t the MPs offer a few of their vast earnings and buy food for us who r starving? komanso a Malawi timacotseranji deya la cimanga which is the nutritious part of corn??? those who are eating madeya will be healthier poti even the germ is also there

Joe
Joe
8 years ago

3.9 tonnes of maize and yet people are eating madeya any logic there ? Why can the government not introduce irrigation on the upper Shire river as is done on lower Shire river sugar plantations in Chikwawa district ? This problem of hunger can be minimized in doing so. WE can become a self food reliant Malawi.

Nkando crew
Nkando crew
8 years ago

Harry is right Malawi has gone to pigs. Our president and his ministers are all busy with elevating chiefs from their home districts. When the next govt comes these will be demoted. What a shame to our chiefs.

amos phiri
amos phiri
8 years ago

I was shocked to hear the President saying iye alibe pulobulemu

Matiasi
Matiasi
8 years ago

Hon Chiyembekeza the solution is there. Order your AEDCs to register a total of 3,000,000 smallholder farmers who have wetlands, land along rivers, swamps and dambos. Encourage the youths participate in the winter program as a matter of solving the hunger crisis. Each one of the farmers should commit to produce 1 ton (20 bags of Maize). By June, 2016, you have 3,000,000 ton of maize. The AEDCs should have targets on the number of maize farmers not ghost farmers. But you need to loan them 5kgs of the right Seed (SC403 and others) for winter and a total of… Read more »

ANT CHAMBE
ANT CHAMBE
8 years ago

A country is only as good as their leader, to know if a fish is rotten you only examine the head (the gills) you dont check the tail. Now one silly C HAMBE MAN says Malawians are lazy, really? If you travel outside Malawi you will hear how hard working Malawians are. Now tell me if your Pumbwa BWAMPINI is hardworking? We all know how he got his professorship or if you dont know its through long service (teaching) He failed as minister of education(Academic saga), he failed again as minister of foreign affairs and he is failing again as… Read more »

concened
concened
8 years ago

these politcians u cant understand them though we had elections but they still dont understand and every stituation which involves malawians they think thus only way to be leaders i dont exactly know where we can get sober mps when it comes to deliberations in parliament bcz what we need now is development until 2019 but everybody is partisan including speaker so who is going to maintain peace and order if all are partisan

citizen
8 years ago

Yes.I 100% agree with speaker,u were indeed out of older.Him was saying real situation on the ground.Musowa osamagotsutsa ndi cholinga chotsangalatsa APM kapena chipani chanu cha DPP.U r out of older.mbuzi Iwe.

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