By Vincent Gunde
People in the Lower Shire started growing cotton in as early as 1844 following dominance by the colonial white farmers and by 1900 cotton became a very big income generating activity in the Lower Shire making the people to stand enjoying growing cotton.
Besides the people in the Lower Shire growing cotton, prices being offered to cotton farmers have been very low making many growers to be crying to the government to come in to rescue them but the government does not come to their rescue.
It seems none of the ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) have time to talk to the President on how best can be done to address the long- term sufferings cotton farmers have been incurred for years now.
Speaking through an audio clip, President of the Tikondane Trade Import and Export Association of Malawi John Khisimisi Tembo, said President Professor Arthur Mutharika has a vision to transform the country into a better country but people are not helping him.
Tembo said one President Mutharika’s vision is to make Malawi become Singapore of Africa but Malawians themselves are not ready to help the president realize his dream for the country to move out from poverty to prosperity.
He said Malawi cannot become a better nation if some Malawians are not ready to help the president saying this is being seen in the Lower Shire where cotton farmers are meeting problems in their everyday life situations that they are not benefiting from the commodity.
The Association President said in Chikwawa, there were five Ginneries but all were abandoned and if there is one Ginnery working is ADMARC but this is not always observing that this has made cotton industry to decline.
He said the income which people were getting from the sale of cotton is down, laborers down, everything has gone down saying three- quarters of cotton farmers in the Lower Shire states are suffering.
“Our source here is cotton, the authorities are quiet, worse, the cotton council came to kill millions of farmers,” said Tembo.
He has questioned the authorities how the country can develop if Malawians are killing themselves claiming that some Malawians are fighting their fellow Malawians in the cotton industry and in their mother land describing this as not wishing the country well.
Tembo said he took the concerns of cotton farmers to the Agriculture Minister who promised to come to them but two months have gone hearing nothing from the government lamenting that there are people that are coming to the same poor cotton farmers demanding money from them.
He said cotton farmers are buying cotton seeds at high prices making poor farmers to conclude that only the rich people are the ones celebrating and the poor people continue crying to the government to come in and rescue them from their sufferings.
Tembo has finally pleaded with President Professor Mutharika to come in and address cotton farmer’s problems as soon as possible observing that Malawi is free and why cotton is not free, all eyes are set on the President to come in and rescue them.
