Some parents in Mufulira district on the Copperbelt Province are reportedly using their children in smuggling mealie meal into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo–DRC.
According to concerned resident, Geoffrey Mwango who expresses dismay at what he terms as an unending illegality, in which parents use minors as couriers of the staple crop in mostly pre-packed quantities that are carried in school bags.
Mr. Mwango claims the vice has been persistent because children are less suspected to be part of the criminality, hence they traffic the staple food into DRC and in the process, many have dropped out of school.
He has since warned guardians to desist from the habit because it is imparting criminality in children who are supposed to be attending lessons to prepare for a better future.
In recent times, Zambia has witnessed one of the worst cases of smuggling of mealie meal when demand in some neighbouring countries has led to shortage of the commodity on the Copperbelt Province, a matter that prompted the government to tighten border controls, but the vice lingers in the region.
By Rogan Labika