A sigh of relief, Chinsapo 2 market will be supplied with bananas as it was yesterday
Reported By Vincent Gunde
The Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA) says Tanzania has enjoyed a cordial relationship with Malawi in various agricultural products saying the regional and international trade is guided by the guidelines given by the Intra-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC) and International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), of which both countries have ratified.
The Authority says the two guidelines require that the NPPO regulate the importation and exportation of agricultural produce, particularly with respect to phytosanitary integrity of consignments of plants and plant products.
TPHPA is the national plant protection organization of Tanzania mandated and tooled with Plant Health Regulations saying the Authority is responsible for preventing the introduction, establishment and spread of quarantine and regulated quarantine pests to Tanzania.
Following the recent reach out of the Malawian government to the government of the United Republic of Tanzania in the aftermath of the announcement of the ban to initiate and engage on diplomatic dialogue in order to resolve the problem, Tanzania has lifted the ban on export and import of agricultural produce to and from Malawi.
“Tanzania is lifting Theban effective from 25th April, 2025 until further notice paving the way for a diplomatic ministerial discussion which will be held on 2nd May,2025,” reads the statement signed by Professor Joseph Ndunguru, Director General of TPHPA.
In his reaction to the ban, Comrade Alhaji Imraan Jumbe said Malawi need diplomatic not drama, leadership not loudness, negotiations, not narrow-minded saying Malawians need leaders who understand that wisdom is like fire, people take it from others faulting Minister of Trade Engineer Vitumbiko Mumba wrong for listening to no one.
Comrade Jumbe said the MCP has become a government of illustrations, it has no plan, no vision, no roadmap, just loud declaration and short tempers observing that to damage trade relations with Tanzania, it is not just foolish, it is economic suicidal.
He said the economic complications of this ban would be thousands of livelihoods in limbo, foreign buyers and importers withdraw, prices collapse, hunger and frustrations rise and all of it began with a single man’s theatrical performance.
Comrade Jumbe said Mumba was closing shops with cameras following him as if governance was a reality show, he has shown no strategic foresight, he governs with excitement, not experience, he acts first and thinks, his decisions are not rooted in patriotism but self-display.
“He is a man intoxicated with authority not equipped with vision, Malawi is now paying the price, Mumba, in his hunger to appear powerful ignited a trade conflict between Malawi and Tanzania,” reads Alhaji Jumbe’s writings on the wall.
