Farmers in Kasama complain over slow pace of payments by banks

Farmers in Kasama District have described the method being used by banks to disburse funds to pay farmers who sold their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) as unfair.

Speaking on behalf of the farmers Mwansa Bwalya said the payment method is unfair as some of the farmers in the various cooperatives will not get their monies.

He said this during an on the spot check by ZANIS at Barclays Bank in Kasama today.

Mr Bwaylya complained that government should have paid all the farmers by now but as only a small amount of money has been released and most of the farmers will not get paid.

Mr Bwalya said the queues are long and the payment method is too slow and is an inconvenience to their normal duties.

The farmers have since appealed to government to plan ahead to avoid such delays this year as farmers need time to plan for their next farming season.

However, Kasama District Commissioner Kalanga Bwalya recently confirmed that government released the remaining K16, 000 to pay all farmers in the district.