The Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA) has questioned the Government’s move to import Genetically Modified mealie meal (GMO) on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC.
Earlier, the government’s announcement that the Ministry of Defense has entered into arrangements with South African private milling companies to start importing Genetically Modified mealie meal (GMO) destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a situation that has raised concerns as there are some allegations that the mealie meal may be destined for the Zambia Consumers.
Zambians banned GMOs in 2002 under the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy -MMD, with late President Levy Mwanawasa describing them as “poison.”
Mwanawasa later rejected GMO maize donated by the U.S. government at the height of a food shortage caused by drought.
However in the latest development, the United Party For National Development –UPND- Government through the Minister of Information and Media and Chief Government Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa MP with his Defence counterpart Ambrose Lufuma during their recent visit to the Chongwe Zambia National Service (ZNS) Milling Plant, revealed that the government through the Ministry of Defense has entered into a special arrangements with South African private milling companies to import Genetically Modified mealie meal (GMO) destined to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) market.
According to the Zambian government, the decision was made to reduce the smuggling of Zambia’s non–GMO mealie meal to neighboring countries.
This has therefore raised eyebrows and caused panic among some concerned members of the general public who are wondering why the government has decided to do the importation of the GMO mealie meal on behalf of Congo and if DRC does not have the capacity to import for themselves.
Some members of the public have also raised questions on whether the cheap Mealie Meal being offloaded on the locals by ZNS is GMO or not.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times -ZBT, ZACA executive secretary Juba Sakala, however, said that the fact that ZNS is involved in the importation of the GMO mealie meal when they are also supplying cheap Mealie Meal to the locals is suspicious and worrying to the consumers and the country at large.
Sakala noted that members of the public were not going to raise concerns if it was a private company that was contracted to do the importation but the fact that the government through ZNS is involved is worrying.
He noted that there is no guarantee that the GMO mealie meal the government Will be ordering for exports to Congo will be strictly for exports.
He therefore appealed to the government to provide answers to the general public on why they are importing GMO mealie meals on behalf of Congo and why their Congolese counterpart cannot do it for themselves.
“I’m appealing to the government to come out in the open and tell the nation why are they ordering GMO mealie meals on behalf of Congo? It brings a lot of suspicion because the same ZNS is making cheaper Mealie Meal for the locals. If it was another company ordering mealie meals on behalf of Congo, we were not going to get worried but this is a government institution that is also making mealie meals at cheaper prices. So what is the Guarantee that the cheaper mealie meal that we are eating is not GMO?” he said.
“The question that people are asking is why are they ordering GMO mealie meals on behalf of Congo? Can the government come out and tell us what is the problem because later on there will be no guarantee that the GMO mealie meal they will be ordering for exports to Congo will be strictly for exports? It’s not making sense at all. It’s important that the government become transparent. This government claimed to be very transparent and if they leave things hanging questions will be coming every day and Zambians will lose trust and confidence in them.”
“You cannot tell ZNS to start ordering GMO mealie meals on behalf of Congo. that is why people are saying that this ZNS mealie meal being supplied to the locals is the same GMO mealie meal being imported from South Africa,” said Sakala.
Sakala charged that the possibility of the imported GMO mealie meal destined for Congo being mixed up with the Zambian Non – -GMO mealie meal and supplying it to the locals is very much there.
He therefore reiterated the need for the government to come out clear on the questions and concerns being raised by the members of the public.
“These are human beings, they can be ordering GMO mealie meal from South Africa and mixing it with the little that we have and supplying to locals. That is possible because what happens for example some suppliers of Nakonde Rice, will tell you that this is Nakonde Rice meanwhile they are getting that rice from China and mixing it with Nakonde Rice so that it gets the flavor of Nakonde Rice. So the mix up in the imported GMO and our non-GMO mealie meal is possible,” he said.
“Whatever the government is saying to me is not making sense and does not hold water no matter the explanation they might give. We are old enough to see what is happening. Let the government come out clear. that is why they always get punches because they are not clear in what they are doing. Leadership requires one to be truthful because if they are lying, that thing will backfire, haunt them, and come out and when the truth comes out it won’t be good,” said Sakala.
