President Lazarus Chakwera has called on players in the tobacco industry to put aside their egos and work together in order to create a vibrant industry of Malawi gold.
Chakwera made the remarks at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe Wednesday during an engagement with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Tobacco Processors Association.
In his address to the officials, Chakwera urged the gathering to maintain sanity in the industry by, among other things, developing quick solutions each time they face challenges.
“Whenever faced with challenges, let’s handle them quickly. Let us continue the engagement, the collaboration, and avoid putting spanners in the works [of others],” Chakwera said.
Chakwera appealed to tobacco buyers to ensure that farmers reap the rewards of their hard work and further asked farmers to do the right thing in order to get the best from buyers.
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“We cannot continue producing low quality leaf and then expect to get the best from buyers. There is no need for the President to be standing at the podium castigating anybody. We just have to do the right thing. We talk of tobacco as a forex earner but, after the season is over, you don’t see the forex,” he said.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale expressed his ministry’s commitment to addressing the problem of illegal cross-border trade of tobacco.
Meanwhile, acting Chief Executive Officer for the Tobacco Commission, Evans Chilumpha, has commended the President for creating a cordial working relationship with industry players.
Chilumpha further hailed Chakwera for assenting to the Tobacco Industry Act, saying the move would go a long way in enabling industry players to resolve some of the major problems affecting the industry.
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“We thank you for the conducive environment that you have created in the tobacco industry,” he said.
Limbani Kakhome, who is the chairperson for Tobacco Processors Association, asked government to intensify security to deal with illegal cross-border tobacco trading.
“Let me also ask government to control over-supply of the crop on the market to avoid price crash,” Kakhome said.
