The sudden decision this week by the Zambian government to remove the 15% fuel subsidy has brought back memories of the early days of the shortages under President Kenneth Kaunda, as the Millers Association of Zambia has applied to the government to increase the price of mealie meal.
“It is already common knowledge that transport costs are high and now with the fuel increase things are worse,” said Harrison Banda, the CEO of the millers association. ”We have written to the minister proposing an upward adjustment.”
Mealie meal is a highly politicized product with the potential to cause serious instability in the country. First Republican president Kenneth Kaunda’s exit was fast-tracked by the late 1980s food riots when Zambia suffered widespread shortages.
The looming mealie meal hike follows a similar move by the local transporters to increase bus fares because of the biting price of fuel, but the government is blocking vehicle operators from increasing bus rates.
Generally, the cost of living in Zambia and the price of commodities is expected to increase following government decision to remove a 15 per cent fuel subsidy that has seen the cost of petroleum increase by 15 per cent.
A bag of mealie meal is currently selling at anything from KR50 to KR70 and could be increased by as much as KR10. President Michael Sata had recently ordered that the commodity trades at KR50 for a 25 kg.
But some traders have still been selling the commodity beyond the recommended KR50 and now millers want to make it official because the fuel increase will suppress supply thereby creating a serious shortage.
In justifying the move, the government said the fuel subsidy was benefiting only a few, but the latest decision would allow the authorities to spend the fuel saving on other developmental programmes that would reach out to many citizens.
President Michael Sata said the fuel subsidy was only benefiting the rich who owned motor vehicles, but the National Restoration Party (NAREP) president Elias Chipimo junior argued that subsidy removal was meant to benefit Sata’s bloated government.
Millers Association of Zambia president Allan Sakala said the 15 percent increase in the price of petroleum products had a direct consequence on the price of mealie-meal because both farmers and millers will spend more on transportation and other operational costs.
He said the government must re-think its decision because the fuel hike would have a spiral effect on the economy and the ultimate pinch would be on the common man.
Sakala said prices of mealie meal were already high, but it was inevitable for the millers to increase the prices in view of the fuel hike.
“We have written to the Government notifying them of an upward adjustment to the price of mealie-meal. We decided to engage the Government first because issues to do with mealie-meal are quite sensitive and so we will wait for them to respond. We do not want to be seen to be running cartels or doing things in the dark. It has become typical of politicians to blame us for increases in the price of mealie meal alleging that we are fighting the government.
This increase, which is not avoidable was instigated by the politicians themselves and dialogue is what we shall use this time,” he said.
But the Chief government spokesperson Kennedy Sakeni said the government had everything under cntrl. He said in Lusaka that the Patrtic Front government had already established a plan to cushion consumers from the looming price hikes.
He said the government was aware f the expected increase in the prices of commodities because the increase of fuel prices would have a consequence on production in many sectors of the economy.
“The increase of fuel prices will impact heavily on production in the agriculture sector for instance. However, we remain aware, hence the reason why a mechanism has been established to help the people respond to the current changes in the market place,” he said.
Sakeni said the government would remain focused and working hard to represent the people of Zambia, but the fuel hike was not avoidable.
“Some factors such as this are outside our control, so we will dialogue with the stakeholders and my appeal to them is not to prices of commodities because of the recent increases in fuel prices. We can provide suggestions to mitigate the impact this would have on our economy,” he said.
Transporters across the country have been stopped from increasing bus fares. Last week, transport fares were hikes, but the government called the increase illegal and threatened to arrest transporters who would adjust their fare charts.
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