Minister of Information and Media, Cornelius Mweetwa, has reiterated that government through the treasury has released all the funds meant to pay the farmers who supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

Mr Mweetwa, who is also Chief Government Spokesperson, has further stressed that the government has met its obligation of releasing the funds owed to the farmers to banking institutions.

Speaking when He featured on the KBN TV programme ‘The Big Hour’ last evening and monitored by ZANIS, Mr Mweetwa indicated that all the funds from the national treasury have been disbursed to banking institutions for onward payment to the farmers.

He disclosed that the banking institutions are still paying farmers who are owed by FRA.

Mr Mweetwa, however, has attributed the delay in paying farmers to banking technicalities.

He explained that the long queues observed in some banks are a result of technicalities in the payment system.

Mr Mweetwa stated that banks have indicated that they have been facing challenges in trying to implement modern and swift methods of payment to the farmers.

He added that most farmers, especially those from rural areas, are not fully acquainted with the modalities of payments.

Mr Mweetwa said that he was glad to report that the long queues that characterised most of the banks have died out.

He noted that the remaining queues are for the last farmers, as most of them have been cleared.

And Mr Mweetwa has predicted a bumper harvest in the 2025-2026 farming season.

The Chief Government Spokesperson said that owing to the good rains that the country has been receiving, Zambia is poised to record a bumper harvest.

Mr Mweetwa noted that most of the land that has been idle for years has been cultivated this year.