Own Correspondent|Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe has distanced itself from a statement that circulated on social media yesterday insinuating that millers have increased the price of mealie meal following the removal of subsidies on grain.

GMAZ spokesperson, Mr Garikai Chaunza described the purported statement as “fake”.

“We do not know where the statement emanated from and we are investigating”, he said.

In Bulawayo, some errant retailers had already increased the price of mealie to about $90 for a 10kg bag and $188 for 20kgs while some major retailers had limited stocks but maintained the old price.

Commenting on the matter, Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) president, Mr Denford Mutashu, said: “We have not received such reports and a lot of them do not have the product anyway.

“So, you can’t increase the price of a product that you don’t have and it goes back to the shortage of maize that the millers are experiencing. I think the genesis of the matter is not to focus on prices but to focus on improving the supply of maize to the millers”.