Bushiri ‘cheap’ maize storms Mangochi: Hundreds walk home smiling  

South Africa-based Malawian prophet Shepherd Bushiri’S cheap maize continue to shake the country with the latest being Mangochi district where hundreds are walking home smiling, singing praise of the  Enlightened Christina Gathering (ECG) church  leader.

Bushiri, who  also heads the Shepherd Bushiri Investments (SBI),  is selling  the maize at K5 000 per 50 kilogramme (kg) bag, almost a quarter of the prevailing market price in some districts.

After launching the exercise in Ntcheu on Wednesday, the sales hit Malombe Village in Village Head Mtuwa in Mangochi on Friday and hundreds scrambled for the staple to beat off their hunger.

“It’s amazing how, in few minutes, people stormed the selling point here and bought off the stock—a clear symbol of the challenges they are facing,” said Ephraim Nyondo, Bushiri’s communications director.

The sales are continuing this Saturday and according to Nyondo the Salima selling point is opening this Monday.

Nyondo said the maize SBI is selling  is grown locally.

Ntcheu was the first district to be supplied with the affordable maize. Salima, Chikwawa, Karonga, Chitipa and Phalombe are next on the schedule.

The maize distribution followed an announcement by Bushiri on Tuesday, to respond to the hunger situation in the country, with a promise to ensure they reach every area where there is a need for maize.

Estimates by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) report indicate that the number of food-insecure people in the country rose from 1 062 674 in May 2019 to 1 879 391 in January 2020.

The May 2019 Mvac report projected that 1 062 674 people were at risk of food insecurity in 27 districts except Likoma during the 2019/20 lean season, with Balaka, Neno and Nsanje topping the list of higher population of food insecure people. Each of those districts have 25 percent of their populations food-insecure