CAGE AGRO INPUTS SMUGGLERS – KATAMBO

By PETER SICHALILAW enforcement agencies should bring to book individuals who are smuggling subsidised inputs, Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo has said.Mr Katambo said it was criminal to smuggle Government subsidised inputs out of the country and that those doing so must be pros-ecuted.He said Government was spending millions of Kwacha on FISP to enhance production therefore anyone working against such efforts must be prosecuted.“Those that will be found selling inputs will be apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the law,” Mr Katambo said.The minister warned that agriculture officers engaging in smuggling of subsidised inputs that they risked going to jail and losing em-ployment.Government officers, he said, should safeguard state property including inputs.Mr Katambo said Government through a multi-sectoral approach had beefed up security to curtail smuggling of both inputs and maize out of the country.“Government workers are there to safeguard public property therefore any agriculture officer engaging in smuggling of FISP will be arrested and prosecuted,” Mr Katambo said.Some agriculture officers in Eastern Province have been accused of smuggling inputs which are meant for farmers.