People’s Tribunal

Stop telling us lies about Fisp

(Chiefs, some Members of Parliament and ministers of Finance and Agriculture are seated in the courtroom waiting for Judge Mbadwa to start proceedings)

Judge Mbadwa: Disgruntled villagers who are not appearing on the list of beneficiaries of Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp), are not amused that they have once again been left out in the programme. The only familiar names appearing on the lists are those of their dead relatives.

The chiefs are saying this government should not use Fisp to insult their dead who were resting in peace. In their argument, the villagers and the chiefs, are saying that government should stop hoodwinking people into believing that it cares about their food security by introducing a phony programme called Fisp which they use to enrich themselves. Now I have few questions which can either be answer by Minister of Agriculture Kudikilira Mwala or the Minister of Finance Gado Gandall.

Why is it that every year during a Fisp programme implementation you either get stories that intended beneficiaries did not receive coupons, the seed or the fertiliser, yet billions of kwacha are spent on paying suppliers, transporters and all the logistical jazz. Who really benefits from Fisp if villagers do not own it?

Gandall: My Lord, there is a lot of exaggeration about Fisp. People, especially the opposition who are behind this confusion, are not being honest. We know that the programme is benefitting many Malawians under the leadership of Mapuya. Stories of fake coupons and fertiliser are no longer there and villagers are no longer being cheated by middlemen.

Mbadwa: Honourable minister you are digressing. You are not answering the question. Where does the fertiliser that doesn’t reach the intended beneficiaries go? Does it disappear in thin air? I agree with those who are calling for the exit strategy on Fisp because government cannot just justify its expenditure on Fisp if we seriously followed the money. Now tell me, how come this year you were registering dead people in the programme when the living have been ignored?

Mwala: My Lord, you know government is a business of keeping records; hence, we went into the archives at the Ministry of Agriculture to retrieve names of farmers who would be beneficiaries. We did not realise that most of them died.

Mbadwa: It is becoming abundantly clear that Fisp is not meant to benefit poor farmers in villages but it is one way government or its officials make easy money as they pretend to purchase, supply, transport the input, which do not reach anyone but a selected a few. I urge you honourable ministers and your government to stop lying to the nation about the wonders of Fisp when we know who benefits from it. A serious government with a whole machinery at its disposal cannot be so reckless so as to register skeletons for a programme it claims is being improved.

I, therefore, ask you to compensate each group village head and traditional authority 20 bags of fertiliser for insulting the dead and this I hope is the last time I am hearing that you are using Fisp to divert public money. n

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