Army worms worry Patricia Mwashingwele
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By Fulman James Mukobeko Nico
Zambia’s President Edgar Chagwa Lungu with Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda at an Agritech Zambia event-Agritech Expo Zambia is Zambia’s leading outdoor agriculture expo. Agritech Expo Zambia is a business-to-business platform for agricultural professionals.
UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) Katuba Member of Parliament (MP) Patricia Mwashingwele has said the move by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu to combat army worms is a camaflouge intended to show Zambians that the PF is a responsive government.
Ms. Mwashingwele has said the PF government is downplaying the army worms’ crisis by claiming to be distributing chemicals to farmers in affected areas when they are not doing so.
Speaking when she toured a number of farming blocks in her Central Province located Katuba Constituency, Ms. Mwashingwele said the crops in Katuba have been adversely affected by army worms and the PF Government has done nothing to address the situation.
Ms. Mwashingwele has accused the PF Government of lacking strategic planning and understanding of the agricultural sector adding that the PF could have learnt a lesson from 2011 when army worms ravished the fields by putting in stringent measures to address a possible crisis.
Patriotic Front (PF) Petauke Member of Parliament(MP) and Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya being sworn by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu ay State House in Lusaka, Zambia.
But Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya referred 
queries on the matter to her Permanent Secretary Julius Shawa, as the Patriotic Front (PF) Petauke Member of Parliament (MP) in the Eastern Province was out of the country.
When reached for a comment, Ministry Agriculture PS, Shawa allayed fears of a poor crop stating that Government through the Disaster Management Unit (DMMU) in Vice President Inonge Mutukwa-Wina was on top of things.
“We are on top of things as our teams supervised by DMMU are ensuring that the army worms do not spread beyond Central, Copperbelt, Lusaka and Luapula Provinces,” Mr. Shawa allayed fears by Ms. Mwashingwele and a horde of critics.
