Sitting on a 12.5-acre land situated approximately 3km from Hima Town in Kasese District is a green house where an Israeli Company-Together Pharma has been growing and processing medical marijuana for nearly five years now. Together Pharma has been growing this plant in partnership with Industrial Globus Uganda and also Hemp Uganda. On the facility, there are six green houses with each playing a key role on the growth of the carefully looked at and guarded plant.
When this reporter visited the site in September 2020, it was revealed that the green houses and the factory, form a combined investment worth $12m (about UGX44.4b). The factory is fitted with modern equipment imported from Israel and Italy.
Currently, the proprietors of the facility at Hima are not ready to speak to the press, reportedly on the orders of the government but sources say, the production and exportation of packaged products started in 2021 with the major destination being Europe.
The Kasese based facility is not the only one in the country. The government recently granted licenses to other companies to grow KHAT and Cannabis for experimental purposes so that if found viable, the economy can benefit from such exports.
The law
Currently, Parliament’s Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs is processing the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Bill, 2023 that is aimed at controlling the growing, selling, consumption and importation of these drugs and their bi-products. The current legislation is a result of the nullification of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2016 by the Constitutional Court in May this year. This nullification on grounds of lack of quorum at the time of its enactment by Parliament followed a successful petition by Wakiso Mira Growers and Dealers Association.
In the Bill, the government seeks to bolster efforts against the supply and use of illicit drugs and substances. However, the government is also looking at the licensing of farmers or companies that would grow Mira and Cannabis for commercial purposes on medical grounds.
The Committee had on Tuesday failed to kick-start the process of scrutinising the Bill after it was found that the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka had filed a notice of appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Constitutional Court.
However, Committee Chairman Wilson Kajwengye on Thursday read a letter signed by Deputy Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi that said that the proceedings of the Committee cannot tantamount to prejudice since a memorandum of appeal had not been filed in Court.
“Please further note that the Attorney General’s Chambers have not yet lodged a memorandum and record of Appeal in the Supreme Court as the record of proceedings has not yet been availed by the Court of Appeal. In any case, the filing of a Notice of Appeal cannot [bar Parliament from] exercising its legislative function. Therefore, we advise that you may proceed to consider the Bill” read part of the letter.
Appearing before the Committee on Thursday, Internal Affairs Minister Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire suggested that while processing the Bill, legislators should delete from the Bill, Mira (Khat) and some parts of Cannabis from substances to be prohibited by the law if passed.
Asked to explain why a sudden change of mind, the Minister said that he has been given scientific proof that Mira and some parts of Cannabis can be used for medical purposes hence if exported will attract a lot of money to the Ugandan economy. “I would want to remove Khat and [the] part of Cannabis from the Bill. They have become cash crops. World over, Cannabis has now become a plant from which we get medicinal substances and it is now a multibillion dollar business” said Otafiire.
The Minister added that such plants are being grown as cash crops and have brought a lot of money for countries like Kenya, Canada, Ethiopia and some of the European Countries. He allayed fears that the legalization of the growth of Mira and Cannabis would lead to social disorder as a result of abuse arguing that the government will implement control measures after the enactment of the law.
“Even this notion that societies will be destroyed by Cannabis is actually wrong. I am told the best Cannabis is grown wildly in West Nile. In fact, some of the best brains in this country come from [the] West Nile and if Cannabis were dangerous, then we would have wasted people in West Nile” the Minister argued.
Further, Gen Otafiire said that there is no reason why alcohol is allowed in Uganda even when knowing that if abused, it can cause problems and then block the growth and use of Mira and Cannabis for medical purposes.
“Mira and Cannabis are similar to coffee. If you take 15 cups of coffee, you will die and if you take one sachet of salt it will kill you and likewise Khat (Mira). You need to drink 10 kilograms of Cannabis to die. I think we should put more emphasis on [stopping the] abuse rather than the cash crop. For Khat as much as it has substances that are dangerous, it is not as dangerous as alcohol” Gen Otafiire added.
He informed the Committee that for experimental purposes, the government has licensed a number of companies to grow and process Mira and Cannabis for medical purposes and they have started fetching a lot of money.
The Committee however could not continue interfacing with the Minister and experts from the Ministry of Internal Affairs after legislators demanded for documentary evidence to back up the matters they were raising in support of legalizing Mira and Cannabis growing as cash crops.
The Minister had informed the Committee that scientists have details of the different types of Cannabis plants hence being able to tell which ones are dangerous for human consumption. He added that the male plant produces a substance that makes people high after consumption while the female and hermaphrodite plants has products that are good for medicinal purposes.
“This is a matter that touches our livelihoods because we are processing a law that is going to serve the whole of humanity. And if you are not ready (with scientific proof) we are going to give you time to put information together.” Said Committee Chairperson Kajwengye while adjourning the meeting to Wednesday 12th July 2023.
Grower’s take
Meanwhile, Wakiso Mira Growers and Dealers Association which successfully challenged the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 2016 has also put a case for the deletion of all clauses related to Mira from the Bill.
Isabella Nakiyunga, lawyer from Centre for Legal Aid which represents the Association said that the farmers and dealers have no problem with the Bill apart from the clauses on Mira. “Our plea is that Khat is excluded from any proposed Bill as it doesn’t pass the constitutional master” said Nakiyunga.
As it was the case for Gen Otafiire and the team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the leadership of the Wakiso Mira Growers and Dealers Association failed to verbally substantiate on the benefits of Mira and why they want it to be deleted from the legislation. The committee will give the association another chance to make their case.
Centre for Legal Aid writing to the committee on behalf of the Association also weighed in on the processing of the Bill at a time when the Attorney General is in the process of appealing the decision of the Constitutional Court.
“Pursuing two co-current processes in respect of the same subject offends the principle against appropriation and reprobation, subjudice and non-interference with the judicial machinery as enshrined in Articles 128(2) and 128(3) of the Constitution. In other words, continued action on this Bill is unconstitutional and should be stopped forthwith” reads part of the letter dated July 6, 2023.
But Kajwengye ruled that the Committee has been guided by the Attorney General to continue with the process of scrutinizing the Bill.
What is in the bill?
With the submission of Minister Otafiire and the Wakiso Mira Growers and Dealers Association routing for the removal of Mira and Cannabis from the Bill, it means that Parliament would be legislating only to control the growth of Coca bush, Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) and Papaver setigerum. The Minister had listed these three plants alongside Cannabis and Catha edulis (KHAT) locally known as Mira as those prohibited under Schedule Four of the Bill.
The Minister had provided in the Bill a proposal that no person shall cultivate any prohibited plant from which a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance may be extracted, without the written consent of the Minister responsible for health.
It is supposed to be an offense for the cultivator, owner, occupier or manager of premises used for growing, gathering or production of any prohibited plant hence attracting on conviction, a fine not exceeding 250 currency points or three times the market value of the prohibited plant, whichever is greater or jail term of not less than 2 years but not exceeding 5 years or both. It is also proposed that in case a convict is a second or subsequent offender, the Court would sentence him or her to life imprisonment.
Drug use/abuse
The reintroduction of legislation aimed at controlling the growth, selling and consumption of plants that have narcotic and psychotropic substances in Uganda comes at a time when the country is embattled with a rise in the number of mentally ill persons, something many attribute to drug abuse.
A report issued by New Frontier Data, a UK-based authority on data analytics and business intelligence in 2019 indicated that there were 2.6million Ugandans abusing marijuana. The same report rated Uganda as the 8th African country in the use of cannabis. The same report which indicated that 83million Africans were consuming Marijuana placed other East African countries, Tanzania and Kenya in the 5th and 6th position on the list of countries with drug abusers on the continent.
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