The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform announced the recent resignation of the Chairperson of Meatco's Board of Directors, Sakaria Nghikembua.

This follows Cabinet's earlier directive to pause the process of advertising for the vacant CEO position, with the intention of encouraging the Board to reconsider reinstating former Chief Executive Officer, Mwilima Mushokabanji.

In a ministerial statement to the National Assembly, Minister of Agriculture Inge Zaamwani explained that since assuming office, her ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General, has actively sought to engage with Meatco's Board. 

The goal was to hold critical discussions on matters of national importance concerning the corporation's future.

Despite repeated efforts from both sides to schedule a meeting, conflicting schedules delayed the engagement.

The long-awaited opportunity to meet finally arose on Tuesday, but by then, the chairperson had already tendered his resignation the previous Friday. 

"The chairperson of the board has decided to resign; a letter to the Minister of Finance and myself was copied to me on Friday, and I did speak to the chairperson to try and convince him to wait until our meeting takes place, but he had already made up his mind."

Nonetheless, she told the house that her ministry, alongside the Ministry of Finance, remains committed to steering Meatco towards a sustainable turnaround that allows the corporation to fulfil its mandate.

Some MPs, however, raised concerns, saying that the Cabinet's involvement in pressing the Board to reconsider its earlier decision on Mushokabanji's contract sets a troubling precedent that could erode principles of corporate governance and reflect undue political interference.

In response, the minister acknowledged these concerns but emphasised that the government had made every reasonable effort to engage constructively with the board.