By Isaac Zulu
There was scramble for cheap mealie meal in Kapiri Mposhi district on Monday when Zambia National Service produced staple food was offloaded on market.
Immediately word went round that a Zambia National Service truck ladden with mealie meal was in Tambalale and Kawama markets, where a 25 kilogram bag of the commodity is selling at K195, most Kapiri Mposhi residents rushed to the area where a queue had formed, with most buyers being traders.
Most people who bought the Zambia National Service produced mealie meal, appealed to relevant authorities to ensure that the commodity be consistently supplied to the district in order to ensure that residents continue buying the staple food at a cheaper price.
“If they are to satisfy the demand, they need to be consistent in the supply of cheap mealie meal produced by Zambia National Service. In fact, this should be done on a monthly basis. We appreciate this gesture by government to offload this cheap mealie meal prices, but if you look at the queue, you can easily tell that there’s scramble the staple food; which is also an indication that majority Zambians cannot afford to buy mealie meal,” said Anderson Siwakwi, who is one of the traders in Tambalale market.
But some people have said that the UPND is likely to lose power in 2026 if it does not address the skyrocketing mealie meal prices.
Joyce Nankamba, who is one of the Kawama residents in Kapiri Mposhi district, lamented that majority Zambians are struggling to put food on the table owing to the high cost of living, saying this “is slowly but surely making the UPND unpopular.”
“The high cost of living, arising from high prices of fuel and fertiliser as well as the skyrocketing mealie meal prices have the potential to make the UPND government unpopular. And this can cost the UPND in 2026,” said Nankamba.
The Zambia National Service produced mealie meal labelled Eagles Milling from Monze district is fetching K195 per 25 kilogram bag of breakfast, while the same quality of roller meal is being sold at K130.
ENDS
