Malawi has become synonymous with shortages. Petrol and diesel availability cannot be guaranteed. Fertiliser supplies can no longer be guaranteed. Hope, too, cannot be guaranteed.
And, today, people are struggling to lay their hands on sugar. Yes, sugar. The commodity is in short supply in shops. As a result, people are queuing for the commodity, spending precious time they would have used to develop this country.
And, not surprisingly, government and private sector players have given their side of the story on the issue.
For instance, on Wednesday this week, Industry and Trade Minister Vitumbiko Mumba blamed vendors for causing chaos and fuelling the problem of sugar scarcity in the country. The minister made the remarks during a press briefing held in Lilongwe, where he sought to shed light on issues surrounding sugar rumpus. In his words, “We have seen that there are vendors who are paying people to buy large quantities of sugar bales. They are then reselling the same sugar at higher prices. This practice has contributed significantly to the current shortage.”
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The minister said a lot of things, including that some of the distributors who got their contracts during the reign of other presidents are fuelling the problem as they owe their allegiance to those administrations. According to Mumba, the distributors are playing dirty tricks by making sure that sugar supply is compromised just to please their political masters.
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Predictably, he was quick to warn that the distributors would not succeed as they would crash before President Lazarus Chakwera crashes. “In terms of essential goods, there is fertiliser, maize, sugar, cooking oil, salt and second-hand clothes. If people want to fight political battles, they work on these goods because they are essential. Politics of most people is played around these commodities. That’s why, being close to elections, you hear stories about maize, cooking oil. A lot of unnecessary pressure. I can’t say much but what I can assure you is that there is also a lot of politics going on in this because some distributors became distributors under a certain leadership sometime back before MCP [Malawi Congress Party] came to power.
“Because they were given the contracts by those people when they were in power, they owe everything to that particular group and they answer to those people. So, they call the shots. [They are told to] ‘hoard the commodity so that this administration should suffer’. They want to ride on the back of the pain of Malawians,” he said.
Fine and well.
However, what sparked my interest was the point that sugar supply would not be a problem had the United Democratic Front administration not sold Sugar Corporation of Malawi (Sucoma). Well, I found it interesting because the government now wholly owns Salima Sugar Company and, yet, there is a sugar shortage in the country.
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During the briefing, Illovo Sugar Managing Director Kondwani Msimuko said his firm delayed sugar crushing this year by close to a month due to the prolonged rainy season.
Msimuko, however, said the firm had started sugar crushing at both its Dwangwa and Nchalo estates.
On his part, Salima Sugar Chief Executive Officer Wester Kosamu said his firm had delayed sugar crushing because their accounts had been frozen by the court.
According to Kosamu, they have now started sugar crushing. He said the commodity is now flowing straight to the market without any stoppages at warehouses. The official expressed optimism that, all things being equal, the sugar market will normalise within a few days.
I have heard from all those involved in sugar issues; the government and producers. My take is that the sugar producers have been honest enough, thereby giving Malawians a true picture of the situation and giving them a picture of how things may be in the foreseeable future.
However, I am not convinced with the government’s excuse— that the privatisation of Sugar Corporation of Malawi has ‘contributed’ to the problem of sugar shortage. On this, government officials are giving Malawians a lame excuse.
