Probe farmers’ rights violations, Nankhumwa urges MHRC

Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has requested Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) to probe purported violation of human rights of farmers seeking to access the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) fertiliser.

He said MHRC should particularly investigate, in line with Section 129 of the Constitution, why government officers are obtaining money from farmers upfront on a promise they would give them fertiliser later.

In a letter dated January 30 2023 addressed to MHRC executive secretary Habiba Osman, Nankhumwa claims there were documented cases of government agents moving from one village to another nationwide collecting money from destitute farmers.

He cites Mchinji, Ntchisi, Mulanje and Chitipa as some of the districts where farmers already paid for the fertiliser, but are yet to receive the commodity for the maize crop which is at tussling stage.

Reads the letter in part: “This is unprecedented in the history of fertiliser subsidy programmes in this country… I believe this issue amounts to human rights violation and I find it abhorrent and immoral.”

He further observes that at such a critical stage in the farming cycle, farmers were spending weeks at fertiliser sales depots instead of being in the fields tending to their crops.

Nankhumwa’s request comes barely a day after scores of AIP beneficiaries from about 12 villages in Traditional Authority (T/A) Likoswe in Chiradzulu District marched to their district council offices to demand their K30 000 which was collected in advance from them for AIP fertiliser.

He has also asked MHRC to ensure that government immediately pays back the money it collected from farmers who have not received their fertiliser.

In an interview yesterday, MHRC director of economic, social and cultural rights Makhumbo Munthali confirmed receiving the letter and said the commission was analysing the matter to ascertain the way forward.

He said: “As part of screening the complaint, the commission will also make efforts to reach out to the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Last week, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale, while responding to Nankhumwa’s assertions that this year’s AIP has collapsed and is irredeemable, said the approach was used because of the mobile vending government introduced to reach out to the beneficiaries closer to their homes.

He said under the mobile vending, scanning of beneficiaries’ IDs and payment for the fertiliser is done in one day while collection of the commodity is done on another day.

“This has proven to be a very effective way of delivering fertiliser to the beneficiaries,” explained Kawale.

Since its launch in October 2020 as the Tonse Alliance administration’s flagship campaign promise, AIP has been riddled with logistical glitches that have frustrated smooth implementation.