Vendors frustrate maize purchases

Employees of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) have come under the spotlight for allegedly prioritising intermediaries buying maize on behalf of vendors in the State produce trader’s outlets.

The situation has since frustrated ordinary buyers who are queuing all day at Admarc outlets to access the staple grain sold at K600 per kilogramme (kg), but rationed to 25 kg per individual.

Our findings yesterday corroborated by intermediaries and ordinary buyers in Admarc depots in the Southern Region where Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale visited to appreciate progress of the sales, established that officials are getting unspecified sums to facilitate the purchases.

During Kawale’s second stop at Sedi Admarc Depot in Chiradzulu District, buyers could not hide their frustrations as they murmured about Admarc officials’ malpractice.

The frustrated buyers claimed that the maize purchases seemed to be going well due to the minister’s presence, and that chaos would ensue once he left.

Our observations also established low stocks in the depots at Sedi, Chiradzulu Boma and Luchenza in Thyolo compared to the hundreds of people that were waiting to make purchases.

A visibly-frustrated Jenifer Malata from Matuta in Chiradzulu said yesterday was her second day to go to the depot, having failed to buy maize due to vendors converging at the depots.

She said: “If I stay another day without buying maize, my family will not have a proper meal today.”

The disgruntled buyer said what was worrying is that ordinary people are being used as intermediaries, describing the situation as sad.

Allan Mitambo, from Mendulo Village in Mulanje, who went to Luchenza Depot to buy his 25 kg, said the vendors are packing their lorries from a distance where the middlemen go to deliver.

True to his claim, a lorry was seen parked several metres from the tarmac as we made entry into the depot at around 3pm yesterday. However, at the time, it had few maize in it

“Once you are gone all these you think are buying for themselves will go and load the maize in that lorry,” he said.

However, an Admarc official who asked for anonymity for fear of reprisals said they cannot stop anybody from buying the maize and that they cannot distinguish intermediaries from ordinary buyers.

“They all seem the same as ordinary buyers so it’s hard to tell,” he said.

Such challenges are being experienced at a time when maize prices have shot to K60 000 a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag in various markets, largely due to the absence of Admarc on the market.

The situation led Malawians to have no choice but to buy at such high prices from private traders.

According to a Famine In an interview, Kawale acknowledged that vendors are using ordinary buyers to buy on their behalf, but said the situation was beyond the control of both Admarc and his ministry.

“These are things beyond our control, but what we would advise is for Community leaders to ensure maize is bought by the rightful beneficiaries. But this does not mean we will stop stocking the depots with enough maize,” he said.

Admarc general manager Dan Makata expressed optimism that the opening of the depots would stabilise prices on the markets.

“We have 21 000 metric tonnes which we believe will meet the demand on the market,” he said.