Chakwera challenged to fire agriculture minister Lobin Lowe

Governance expert- Moses Mkandawire has challenged president Lazarus Chakwera to fire Lobin Lowe as Minister of Agriculture over the recent mess involving purchase of inputs under the AIP programme.

The call is coming at a time government has removed Lowe as committee chairperson for the implementation of this year’s AIP program.

This follows reports that his ministry has allegedly been duped of 750 Million Kwacha in a deal involving the purchase and importation of fertilizer under the AIP program.

Meanwhile, Sam Kawale- Minister of Lands is the new chairperson for the committee.

Mkandawire has welcomed the decision to replace Lowe, saying it has come at a time the minister has failed to deliver in accordance with the directive president Chakwera gave him earlier this year.

With this, Mkandawire has advised Chakwera to fire Lowe saying the ministerial he is holding requires someone with high integrity as it borders on issues of food security.

The good governance expert has since challenged president Chakwera to walk the talk he made earlier this year of removing Lowe from the ministerial position, would he fail to implement the AIP program by September, this year.

Meanwhile, Leonard Chimwaza, an agriculture expert has expressed concern saying the new leadership does not have enough time to address the bottlenecks suffocating the implementation of this year’s AIP.

Source; MIJ Online