Hours before his dismissal from Cabinet, former minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe yet again refused to brief the media on the status of implementation of the 2022/23 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).

Ironically, the Ministry of Agriculture had invited the media to witness the offloading of a Urea fertiliser consignment at the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) at Kanengo in Lilongwe on Tuesday morning.

Lowe (C) after inspecting the fertiliser offloading exercise on Tuesday

By 10:30am, 13 trucks, each carrying about 30 tonnes of Urea fertiliser, had started offloading in the presence of Lowe, Ministry of Agriculture officials, SFFRFM staff and the media.

But when asked about the tonnage of the fertiliser, origin and when distribution will start, Lowe said his mission, which turned out to be his last in the ministerial jacket, was merely to verify that the trucks had indeed arrived.

“I did not come to take questions. I just came to see that indeed the fertiliser has arrived, so I am not providing any information here. When we are ready, we will invite you for details,” he said.

When contacted later, Minister of Information and Digitisation Gospel Kazako, the official government spokesperson, referred The Nation back to Lowe.

“Talk to the Minister of Agriculture. He has all the information on that subject,” he said.

Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Sandram Maweru said he could not grant an interview as he was in a meeting.

Meanwhile, Media Institute for Southern Africa Malawi chairperson Teresa Ndanga has bemoaned the culture of secrecy surrounding AIP, saying it defeats the essence of Access to Information.

She said: “This trend is worrying. We need the government to be proactive in the provision of information on AIP, especially because of the mist that has surrounded the programme this year.

“We hope with the guidance of the Ministry of Information, all government ministries and departments can be open and provide information proactively.”

Last Friday, government cancelled at the eleventh hour a scheduled press briefing on the same topic amid concerns surrounding preparations and implementation of this year’s AIP amid reports of controversies, ranging from authorities being duped in fertiliser import deals and delays to release the list of beneficiaries.

Last season, 3.7 million farmers benefited from the programme with 30 000 getting goats each valued at K80 000, equivalent to the government’s fertiliser contribution to each farmer.

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