MCP’s Jumbe launches ‘wealthy creation’ campaign: Says Malawi facing food crisis
One of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential hopefuls Felix Jumbe has said Malawians will go without food this year as there is no maize in the silos.
Launching what he calls “Wealth creation for all” campaign, in the capital Lilongwe on Friday, Jumbe said government has failed to purchase enough maize to stock the storage facilities.
“There is no food this year, I want to be quoted on that. Most of the maize is being bought by foreigners and they hoarding,” he alleged.
Jumbe, an agricultural entrepreneur turned politician, further claimed the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) is failing to pay back maize it got from the national reserves.
“Admarc owes maize to silos. It is failing to pay back,” he claimed.
Admarc is reported to have hiked maize price from K3,000 per 50Kg bag to K4,000.
President Joyce Banda confirmed hunger threats when she spoke in Rumphi on Friday during a rally.
The President was however, quick to say she had instructed the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture to start looking for maize outside the country to stock the silos.
Recent media reports indicate that Government has failed to provide enough resources to purchase maize stocks for the silos in Lilongwe, Mangochi, Mzuzu and Luchenza.
Jumbe also blamed the slow development of the country on political leaders who he said have failed to differentiate national interests from political interests.
He said leaders should not dump plans for national developments in case of change of administration as this derails development.
“This is the problem that we have. We do not distinguish national interests from political interests. These are the things that our constitution does not address,” argued Jumbe.
Riding on the vision of the country’s first President Hastings Kamuzu Banda and MCP’s four cornerstones of unity, loyalty, obedience and discipline, Jumbe said this was time that Malawi has to accept that it is an agricultural based economy and embrace agriculture fully for it to create wealth for its people.
Jumbe contended that poverty eradication strategies are most often short term while wealth creation strategies are long term.
“Agriculture is the country’s economic backbone not by accident but by the nature of it natural endowments. Again Malawi’s population is 62 percent illiterate and the only natural profession that can engage 80 percent of the population is agriculture. Agriculture provides aplatform for all other sectors,” said Jumbe.
The Wealth Creation For All campaign, according to Jumbe, is aimed at guiding Malawians on how to use the soil, water, air and sunshine in different agricultural enterprises to create wealth.
Jumbe will be facing other candidates in the MCP leadership race who include the party’s incumbent John Tembo, secretary general Chris Daza, former Malawi Assemblies of God president Lazarus Chakwera, retired Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo and former Cabinet Minister Jodder Kanjere.
Others are former Secretary General Beston Majoni, the party’s MPs Edwin Banda (Nkhotakota central), Joseph Njobvuyalema (Lilongwe Mapuyu south) and Watson Makala Ngozo (Lilongwe Mpenu) and the party’s former director of political affairs Eston Kakhome.
The one to be elected MCP president will lead the party in next year’s tripartite elections when the country for the first time will elect a president, MPs and councilors.
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