I’m at pains, says Kachali over Malawi food situation

Malawi former vice president Khumbo Kachali who is now Member of Parliament for Mzimba South West has told parliament that he is at pains with the food situation in the country.

Khumbo  Kachali with Deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka Chilenje
Khumbo Kachali with Deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka Chilenje

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.

Kachale said Malawians have been queuing overnight to buy the grain which in most cases has not been available

“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am at pains. What is happening at Mzimba ADMARC is that women with babies are spending sleepless nights waiting for a truck [of maize] to come all the way from Lilongwe. These are the people who have come all the way from Mzimba South West which is Edingeni,” Kachali told parliament.

He asked Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Allan Chiyembekeza to decentralise the distribution of maize “instead of waiting for a truck to leave Lilongwe for Nsanje or Lilongwe for Mzimba.”

Said Kachali: “ADMARC has got offices in all the districts.  Why don’t we flood this maize in the districts so that in those districts, distribution can be done in various ADMARC markets.”

Kachali received applause from the members.

He said if they w continue with the pace of sending the maize in “a piecemeal form,” the problem of vendors buying in bulk to overprice the grain shall always be there “no matter how many policemen you deploy to ADMARC markets.”

“Instead of the maize leaving Capital Hill or Lilongwe, let the maize be flooded to our districts and open more satellite markets in our various constituencies,” advised Kachale.

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

The minister explained that there was high demand for Admarc maize because it was selling at K110 per kilogramme (kg) compared to K240 per kg on the open market.

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Winston Msowoya
Winston Msowoya
8 years ago

Mr Kachali,what did you do to the wretched people of Mzimba and the north as a whole.You are an opportunist of the highest level in line with H. Ntaba.You have been knocking the doors of every political party in the country,but as they know you very well,you were denied entry all together.Why can’t you have a luxurious retirement as you have accumulated immense wealth through dubious channels.There are brilliant political operatives in Mzimba or in the whole of Nyikaland.what is wrong with African politicians,they never want to live politics even if they become obsolete.A good instance was Mphonongo Banda who… Read more »

ssp
ssp
8 years ago

kachali kachali!! kachali nkhumbo ndakuyitana ka ngati udziganiza mopepela ngati jese iwe

Dr Thapatula
Dr Thapatula
8 years ago

Kachali are you sure we were not going hungry when you were VP in JB’s regime? You sold all our maize in silo then you cheated Malawians that our maize was rotten. You are worse than a dog, ask comrade Mugabe about it.Gulugunya iwe eti. When did Mzimba spent a hungerless months of October to March? These are hunger striken months in Malawi. Wosamalankhula kunya ayi.You cant be a president of any part in Malawi unless you create one party.

kangaonde.
kangaonde.
8 years ago

Asipusitse khumbo alilimodzi ndi pitala.

kangaonde.
kangaonde.
8 years ago

Khumbo I think you should go back to your drawing board bcoz it seems you lost direction. Before pointing finger to others judge yourself about what you was doing to malawians when you was vip. Kuba mabedi ndi Halima Daudi ku Dowa have you forgotten? Asatipusitse atsogoleri opanda masophenya tatopa nawo.

Dziwapo
Dziwapo
8 years ago

Last year the northern region had adequate rain, i dont understand why the northeners have no food.

Manzy
Manzy
8 years ago

Let’s wait and see mmene zitathere.

patrick
patrick
8 years ago

Let the kwacha appreciate to 620 to a dollar and imported maize will be cheap, then vendors cannot overcharge as there will be plenty imported maize in the market, then there will be no shortage of maize in the country

mbelwa
mbelwa
8 years ago

khumbo,khumbo, khumbo. how many times did I call you?. The whole country heard you as you were pleading with people of mzimba to vote for peter for presidency and they did. Now what are you saying . You think we are fools?. No! use kugona pawalo pa admark chifukwa cha uchindele wako akatipusika tivotere Chindele chinyako. uonenge vimwekumweku mu 2019

Cosmas jackson
Cosmas jackson
8 years ago

Kodi uyu ndiwakuba uja eti… Ndamukumbukira ndikaja amkaba mabed ndimatres mzipatala uja.

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