The opposition MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa has castigated the opaqueness of the importation of maize grain adding that it is essential to unpack it and also to declare a state of emergency. See the MDC’s Twitter thread below for more.
DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY In the Sunday Mail today from the minister of finance. 110 000 tons of Maize ordered for each month. So my maths is this 110 000 tons / 30-ton trucks/ rail wagons 3667 trucks/ 30 days 123 per day MORE THAN 15 trucks for every constituency(210 )
WHERE FROM we are aware of export bans in Zambia and Malawi, Mozambique undecided yet and RSA say they don’t have enough for themselves. Closest stocks that we have available is South America. Shipping time from payment is 2.5 to 3 months The national stock will run out month-end
AT WHAT COST GMB sock holdings appear to be top-secret. How can we ask for assistance without revealing our stock holdings 110 000 tons @ $300 per ton = US$ 33 million per month Where is the money coming from We know WFP have about 95 million pledged but asked 300 million.
WE CALL FOR 1 Declare the disaster to the international community 2 Declare all current stocks including GMB 3 Publish the GMB forensic audit 4 Adit the Command Agriculture program 5 Food foe all needy including the urban 2,2 million 6 Take politics out of distribution.
LONG TERM POLICIES 1 Announce Pre Planting Producer Prices 2 GMB to be overhauled into a PPP 3 Retire all military in the GMB 4 GMB it operates the PIS and what was Command inputs on a non-partisan basis