UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) members of Parliament (MPs) have denounced the Patriotic Front (PF)'s call for mass demonstrations as a way of pressing the Government to address the rising food prices.

The MPs said at a joint Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the problem of rising prices and hunger were serious and required dialogue with the Government and not the mass protests that the PF was advocating.

The Press briefing was attended by Robbie Chizhyuka (Namwala), Request Muntanga (Kalomo), Jack Mwiimbu (Monze Central), Siavonga's Douglas Syakalima, Mazabuka Central's Garry Nkombo and Sinazongwe's Raphael Muyanda.

Mr Mwiimbu appealed to the Government to declare the hunger situation a national disaster so that the country could receive assistance from cooperating partners and other well-wishers.

He said although the hunger situation in Zambia and the Southern Province in particular was depressing, it was still inappropriate to demonstrate at this stage because the option of engaging the Government in dialogue was still open.

"As UPND we are strategising and feel demonstrating is not right. You only demonstrate if there is failure to reason and you do not demonstrate if you have not engaged the other party," Mr Mwiimbu said.

He said as a result of the worsening hunger situation in the Southern Province, some pupils had abandoned education so that they could concentrate on assisting their parents to look for wild fruits.

Mr Muntanga said that the hunger situation was worsened by the increase in mealie meal prices.

During the coming season, he anticipated that the hunger situation would worsen as out of the 1.2 million small-scale farmers, only 200,000 would benefit from the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP).

Mr Muntanga said that small-scale farmers contributed extensively to alleviating hunger in the nation and that it was important that the Government ensured that the number of FSP beneficiaries was increased.

Major Chizhyuka said that what had compounded the hunger situation in Southern Province was the displacement of over 8,000 people in the Sichifulo Game Management Area (GMA).

Meanwhile, marketeers at Choma's main Makalanguzu market have said calls by the PF for protests over mealie-meal prices are ill-conceived and unjustified.

Market chairperson, Charles Siazilo, told ZANIS in Choma yesterday that marketeers were not in favour of PF's move and would not support any political party agitating for such protests.

He claimed that the PF had a hidden motive for calling for protests, adding that the issue of mealie meal prices was merely being used as a scapegoat.

Mr Siazilo said it was surprising that the PF could think of protests when all avenues of dialogue with the Government had not been exhausted.

He said the PF should realise that Zambians were wise enough to know that what was happening in the country was reflective of the global economic situation and Zambia was not immune to the financial crunch.

Mr Siazilo said politicians should exercise maturity and avoid inciting people to resort to violent means to resolve issues of national concern.

He said the issue of protests was a non-starter in Choma as the people in the area did not like violence.