Tonnes of maize rot under Admarc nose

Admarc officials came under intense fire from parliamentarians on Tuesday after it was revealed that over 7,000 tonnes of maize under the care of the state produce company has rotten.

Acting general manager for Admarc Margaret Roka Mauwa told the joint Agriculture and Natural Resources cluster committee that the maize went bad due to moisture.

Mauwa said this means the government has wasted K1.7 billion due to the maize going bad.

Welani Chilenga, one of the legislators in the committee expressed concern that Admarc was still selling the discoloured maize to people and asked Admarc to destroy it as it can be a health hazardous.

But the Admarc CEO said the maize is only sold to companies which use it for animal feed.

Mauwa said Admarc needs K24 billion to buy all the maize, a process which she said is progressing well.