The government has strongly warned mealie-meal smugglers following a shooting incident in Kasumbalesa’s Lubansa area involving an alleged smuggler who attempted to disarm a Zambia National Service (ZNS) trooper.
On Monday, it was reported that a smuggler attempted to seize a firearm from the rightful possession of a ZNS officer on guard, leading to him being shot in the thigh during the scuffle.
Speaking after visiting the scene of the unfortunate incident, Ministry of Information and Media Department Secretary Thabo Kawana warned that the government would not tolerate acts of agitation from smugglers whose days, he predicted, were numbered.
“The attempt by the smuggler to disarm a ZNS trooper is not only very dangerous but also inimical to the development of this country. He is lucky to still be alive; this is a very serious criminal offense,” Kawana told reporters.
Meanwhile, ZNS Public Relations Officer Col. Mable Nyoni revealed that the smuggler had vented his anger on the ZNS soldier after he had stopped one of his cohorts from attempting to smuggle at least 70 bags of mealie-meal into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Nyoni also noted a surge in the smugglers’ unscrupulous tactic of using underage children to purchase and repackage mealie-meal, which is smuggled into the neighboring DR Congo.
“They are luring children with K30 to buy Eagles branded mealie-meal on their behalf, which they later repackage into different branded bags and smuggle out of the country. It is very unfortunate,” Nyoni lamented.
The DRC is a perennial market for smuggled consumer goods from Zambia, chief among them mealie-meal.
In the wake of the drought that has devasted hectares of Zambia’s cultivated maize crop this season, ZNS has resorted to importing genetically modified maize meal to export to the DRC in a bid to save the local non-GMO maize for the Zambian market.
ZNS has also entered the milling market and now produces and sells its own branded Eagles mealie-meal, currently the cheapest maize meal brand on the market. It is intended to be sold in Zambia only at a regulated price.
Main Image : Daily Nation
