STILL NO HURRY IN ESWATINI

WERE one to use government’s ongoing processes towards exploiting the industrial and economic possibilities offered by the cannabis industry as a mirror of the kingdom’s potential in innovation and competitive readiness, the reflection would definitely be a very ugly one.

The snail’s pace at which these processes are progressing is astounding, to say the least. While countries, especially within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), are issuing licences for farming, trading in and processing cannabis, the Kingdom of Eswatini is still at the discovery stages, processing the legal and regulatory framework of what is emerging to be the most lucrative but competitive industry since the discovery of mineral resources on the continent.

But before I forget, I want to pose the question if the date, September 6, is of any value and significance to emaSwati. Yes, a holiday it was last Friday, which happened to have been September 6. But does this date or the independence of the kingdom mean anything to anyone lately? It seems like this day is of little significance or has no meaning in the lives of emaSwati, something that could be a connotation of many things.

Crisis

As I see it, quite a number of anniversaries are celebrated – notwithstanding what has become a perennial fiscus crisis – during the course of the year except Independence Day. Why, even when the nation celebrated half a century of self-determination last year this was not celebrated on Independence Day, but was subordinated to other celebrations, signifying that it was of less significance in the lives and annals of the history of emaSwati. The question begging an answer is what could be greater and above nationhood.

By the way I am not mourning the absence and lack of patriotic fervour around this date because independence without concomitant inalienable rights, freedoms and liberties is of no value whatsoever. Yes, these God-given inalienable rights, freedoms and liberties that came with independence in 1968 were short-lived. For five years into independence the ruling class alienated these rights and freedoms by adopting an iron-fisted regimen on April 12, 1973 that effectively outlawed and criminalised these concomitant gains brought about by independence.

Slow

But back to the subject matter of cannabis, the fact is the kingdom has been slow, very, very slow relative to neighbouring countries in unshackling itself from the legacy of colonial laws apropos cannabis. In fact, the snail’s pace with which government has moved to exploit the industrial and economic benefits of cannabis somewhat resonates with the thinking that emaSwati are their own worst enemies. After all every nation has the government it deserves ostensibly because it rests with the people to take keen interest in and involve themselves initially on how and by whom they want to be governed.

While the public consultations are welcome but they are being executed on the wrong premise, would have been my opening submission but I did not have the opportunity to do so. Given the perspective of the Ministry of Health being hostile and vehemently opposed to even the thought of decriminalising cannabis, it became self-defeating that it should lead the charge in regulating the cannabis industry.

That is perhaps the reason why the draft regulatory framework has been found to be unworkable by just about every stakeholder. The exercise should have involved a cluster of ministries including Health, Agriculture, Commerce, Industry and Trade as well as Economic Planning and Development. In fact the Ministry of Health will have little to say post the process of putting in place the regulatory mechanism since it will be the other portfolios that will be integral when it comes to operations and delivery.

As I see it, there is also no wisdom in reinventing the wheel specifically for emaSwati when a universal wheel is already in use because the process of enacting the regulatory regime appears to be just that, reinvention. Too many countries around the globe as well as from the SADC region are already ahead in this respect and we should have taken a leaf from them in order to speed up the process that is being delayed unnecessarily. Another submission worth considering is the separation of farmers from producers and processors.

The manner the draft regulations were written suggest that once again this industry will be bequeathed to industrialists and multinational players at the exclusion of small indigenous farmers. This is exactly what current illegal dagga farmers fear, hence they are apprehensive about the decriminalisation of the herb. My submission would be that big industries, multinationals and the political elites already straddling the national economy must only participate at the high end of the conveyor belt - that is at the processing and manufacturing phases while farming must remain an exclusive preserve of indigenous farmers in order to spread wealth to the grassroots across the nation. 

It is ironic that there is still no moratorium on the crackdown and destruction of the herb. At this stage a central depository of the ripe crop should be in place to facilitate exportation of the produce to benefit both the country in terms of taxes as well as the small holder farmers.

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