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| National |
| Government bows down to donor demands |
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by
Mc Donald Chapalapa, 31 March 2004
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18:03:51
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Government has bowed down to donor demands and will replenish the 30,000 metric tonnes Ministry of Agriculture withdrew from the Strategic Grain Reserves (SGR) without the donors knowledge, Minister of Finance Friday Jumbe said on Wednesday.
But Jumbe lashed out at Ministry of Agriculture officials for flouting rules of engagement in the management of SGR.
“We are going to regularise the situation and make sure that we replenish the 30,000 metric tonnes government withdrew from the SGR. The money is there and we are working on modalities of replenishing the SGR at the moment,” said Jumbe.
The minister said :“Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture flouted rules of engagement in the management of the SGR. They are simple rules. They were supposed to call for a meeting of the committee that manage the SGR and tell them that they wanted to withdraw some maize and the reasons and mode of payment.”
“Instead of doing this they wrote a letter instructing National Food Reserve Authority (NFRA) to withdraw the maize which is wrong. Rules of the game should have been followed.”
The SGR is managed by a technical committee comprising of Ministry of Agriculture as chair, Ministry of Finance, the European Union (EU), Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States International Agency for Development (USAID).
Before any maize is withdrawn from the SGR by NGOs and institutions involved in safety nets interventions, the committee is supposed to meet and discuss the reasons for the withdraw and how government would either pay or replenish the stock.
Sources said instead of following the proper procedure, the Agriculture Ministry wrote NFRA to withdraw the maize on February 26 so that Admarc should sell to consumers.
They say the ministry have not given any valid reasons for the transaction.
Principal Secretary for the ministry Charles Matabwa declined to comment on the matter when contacted on Wednesday.
Both Minister of Agriculture Chakufwa Chihana and his deputy could not be reached on their mobile phones on Wednesday as they were continuously out of reach.
EU head of delegation Wiepke van der Goot told the local press on Wednesday that the donors were not going to let government get away with the 30,000 metric tones.
Government apologised to the donors on the matter last week through Jumbe. |
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