BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Malawi leader Peter Mutharika has been criticized by the country’s traditional leaders for setting exorbitant maize price at the Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation (Admarc) markets in the face of hunger crisis which has hit hard the ordinary citizens.The chiefs have, asked President Peter Mutharika to rescind his decree on the maize price hike.
Mutharika ordered the Admarc to sell the maize at K12500 per 50 kg from last year’s K5500 representing a historical 127 percent.
The raise forced most of the vendors across the country to farther raise their selling price for instance to about K14, 500 in Mzuzu.
This led to a general outcry that most ordinary Malawians are failing to access the staple grain from anywhere including state-funded Admarc.
Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe of Rumphi told the Daily Tims on Tuesday that Mutharika’s directive was politically motivated.
Chikulamayembe said the president should put politics aside when dealing with matters of national interest like maize prices.
“The hunger crisis we are in is tantamount to system failure, which I believe do not call for political solutions in form of presidential decrees, because indigenous citizens are being subjected to more misery,” said Chikulamayembe as quoted in the Daily Times.
“In the meantime, perhaps there should have been a committee to look into practical solutions which would work for the poor, this generalised approach will not help matters,” he added.
Chikulamayembe’s sentiments come after some 16 local chiefs in Karonga expressed similar concerns during a political rally held by Malawi Congress Party’s President Lazarus Chakwera.
They asked Chakwera together with other opposition legislators to press for a downward adjustment of the maize prices.
Traditional Authority Kilupula said separately that he sympathises with his subjects who are complaining day-in-day-out.
However, government’s spokesperson Malison Ndau said government will not bow down to the outcry saying everything is in place to distribute maize to those that cannot afford the current price.