The Swaziland Government sold off maize worth US$3
million that had been donated to the kingdom by Japan to feed the near-starving
population.
A report presented to the Swazi Parliament on Monday (11
March 2013) revealed that 11,498 metric tonnes of maize had been donated by
Japan, but had been sold through the National Maize Corporation.
About one person in three in Swaziland is malnourished according
to a report called Poverty in a Decade of Slow Economic Growth: Swaziland in
the 2000s, published in 2011 by the Swazi Ministry of Economic Planning and
Development. They rely on foreign food aid.
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported that members of parliament expressed disappointment that
while the people in the communities have no food, government was able to sell
maize that was donated to assist those people.
This was during the debate of the annual performance
report of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development.
Ngwemphisi MP Veli Shongwe said it showed the government
did not care for the people.
The newspaper reported, ‘The sale of the maize is
revealed in the annual performance report of the Ministry of Economic Planning
and Development where it states that 11,498 metric tonnes of maize was donated
by the Japanese government in 2011 and was sold through the National Maize
Corporation. The ministry reported that E24 million was made from the sale and
the funds were deposited in a special account at the Central Bank.’
The government has still to respond to the report.
See also
PM GETS IT WRONG ON POVERTY
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