By 
President Hakainde Hichilema has questioned the motives behind rumours circulating about his health, wondering why anyone would “play games with life and death.”
The Head of State also apologised to farmers for delays in payments for maize supplied to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), urging banks to speed up the process by utilising digital payment solutions such as mobile money.
President Hichilema made the remarks during a live Diamond TV programme on which Ministry of Information and Media Director Spokesperson, Thabo Kawana, was being interviewed.
Kawana phoned the President on-air to provide clarity on the circulating health rumours as well as the delayed payments to farmers.
“Good evening, Your Excellency, I am live on Diamond TV and I am being bothered that you are very sick,” Kawana said.
Laughing, President Hichilema responded:
“Hahaha, Thabo, why would you even bother to do that? You are listening to people who have nothing to do. They must farm, they must produce food for the nation. We are producing food for the nation.”
The President said it was unfortunate that some individuals were making jokes about life and death or wishing him ill health.
“I hear some people are wishing HH death. No, no, no. It’s only God who controls life. I am here working for the nation. I do not know how people make a joke about life and death — honestly, come on,” he said.
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On the delayed FRA payments, Hichilema explained that the increase in maize procurement from 500,000 metric tonnes to 1.6 million tonnes, following last year’s drought, contributed to the backlog.
He said payments were being processed but that delays were also caused by banking procedures and the fact that many farmers still lack bank accounts or mobile money platforms.
“Food security is national security. We are working to improve marketing arrangements and support farmers. With consumption at 2.6 to 2.7 million tonnes, Zambia aims to capitalise on its surplus,” he said.
Hichilema added that Zambia was positioned to increase maize exports to regional markets such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, and others, as production targets reach 10 million tonnes.
Going forward, he assured farmers that government would establish structured export markets, emphasising value-added products including mealie meal and stock feed.
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