Africa-Press – Uganda. Khat growers under their umbrella body, the Wakiso Miraa Growers and Dealers Association, have vowed to oppose the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, 2023, if endorsed by Parliament in its current form.
Khat, widely known as miraa or mairungi, is grown on a small scale and commercially in the country. However, farmers want the cash crop deleted from the list of prohibited drugs as suggested in the Bill.
The farmers are now seeking President Museveni’s audience to reject the Bill in case Parliament endorses it today.
The association’s chair, Mr Vincent Kizito, said they have resolved to petition the President once the Bill is sent to him for endorsement.
“We shall also petition the Constitutional Court and our final resolution is that government should give us an alternative income source,” he said at a press conference of more than 400 khat growers in Wakiso District yesterday,
The new Bill demands that any person interested in cultivating the said plant must get a licence from the Minister of Health and a farmer who contravenes this provision will be fined Shs2.4 million or pay an amount three times the market value, failure of which they face five years in jail for first-time offenders and life imprisonment for second time offenders.
According to Mr Kizito, there is no scientific proof that khat is a threat to human life.
He added that there are more uncontrolled dangerous substances in the market such as waragi that should worry the country and not khat.
The Busiro South lawmaker, Mr Charles Matovu, promised to put up a spirited fight against the passing of the Bill.
“The Bill before Parliament is at the final stage. I have personally prepared a petition to take to Parliament. I, therefore, beg that you should not sit back as the bread [business/source of income] is taken away,” Mr Matovu told his constituents at the same press conference organised in Kasenge Village, Wakiso District.
The legislator during last week’s debate on the floor of Parliament on Thursday put up a spirited spirit against the Bill as it was being debated and deliberated upon.
During the plenary session chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, Mr Matovu said “categorising Catha edulis [khat] among the narcotic drugs would render those [people who depend on it for survival] without livelihood. It has unrest and backlash that comes with it and may be detrimental to the nation.”
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, 2023, was first tabled for the first reading in May and consequently referred to the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs for further scrutiny.
Prior to the retabling of the Bill, the Constitutional Court nullified the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2015, due to lack of quorum at the time it was passed by Parliament.
To this end, therefore, fresh efforts were made to have the legislation reworked and was processed through committee stage, which led to the detailed deliberations into the draft law throughout last week.
By the close of the last plenary sitting last week, a large section of the Bill had been scrutinised by the House, with about 90 clauses handled.
As he adjourned plenary late last week, the Deputy Speaker promised that the final lap of the passing of the Bill, will be handled this week. The order paper shared by Parliament last evening showed that the item had been lined up for its third reading.
PROVISION IN BILL
Any person or owner of land who has reason to believe that his or her land will be used for the cultivation of the prohibited plant will have to a pay Shs1 billion or an amount equivalent to fee that three times the market value of the said drug at the time of apprehension or face jailed for five years or both.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
