Times Of Swaziland: CONFUSION IN RETABLING OF CANNABIS BILL

CONFUSION IN RETABLING OF CANNABIS BILL
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Ntombi Mhlongo on 15/09/2024 07:20:00


MBABANE – While the expectation is that a ‘nkwe’ approach will be applied
to facilitate the retabling of the controversial Cannabis Bill, there is
currently some confusion.
This is because while the existing but outdated legislation that needs to be
amended falls under the Ministry of Health, there is now a debate over a crucial
involvement of two more ministries and these are Commerce, Industry and Trade
and Agriculture. This then raises the question of which of the three ministries
will eventually retable the bill. The re-tabling of the proposed legislation,
which is known as Opium and Habit-Forming Drugs (Amendment) Bill, is crucial and
urgent following that in October last year, His Majesty King Mswati III implored
Parliament to fast-track the legislation that will allow for the use of cannabis
for medicinal purposes and research.
Issued the directive
The King issued the directive during the 40th Graduation Ceremony at the
University of Eswatini (UNESWA). During the sitting at the House of Assembly,
Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula, informed Members of Parliament (MPs) that
the bill has been looked into by the ministry and that they discovered that it
needed to be re-tabled. The minister said as they looked into it, they decided
to consider all reports, findings, recommendations submitted by the portfolio
and the select committee that was once given the task. He said they are also
looking into considering issues of the Narcotic Drugs Convention, in which the
Kingdom of Eswatini is signatory.
“We want to retable something that is balanced,” he said. The minister
shared feedback as a response to an oral question whereby he was asked if he
could give progress to the House regarding the retabling of the bill and if the
political will to do so still exist. When responding, the minister said he
wondered if Parliament itself had the political will since the same bill had
been tabled in the House three times, with no success. “At government level,
the political will is there. As a result, when I reported to Cabinet that I was
busy with this bill, I was encouraged to work together with two other ministries
since the bill involves different things. We are holistically looking into it so
we table something that addresses all aspects including research and medicinal
purposes,” he said.
After his feedback, Lamgabhi MP Sicelo Jele said it is a big concern that when
it comes to bills that touch on the lives of many emaSwati, the process drags
for a long time. “I remember this bill was tabled years ago, it was properly
unpacked and debated, but up until today, it has not been passed. This is
disappointing, it is what causes anger among the citizens,” Jele said.
Also speaking on the issue was Hhukwini MP Alec Lushaba, who reiterated the
challenge thrown at Parliament by the King last year. Lushaba said Parliament
was challenged to work on the cannabis legislation to allow for UNESWA to
effectively conduct its research. He shared that he came from an area where
there were cannabis trees that could be seen when one walked towards the
mountains and that it was a fact that the country’s economy revolved around
the plant.
The Hhukwini MP then asked to know if the bill would be retabled before
Parliament closes its business for the year. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo
said while involving the other ministries is a good step, it is important for
government to come out clear and state if it is considering that the bill to be
tabled will no longer come as an amendment to the 1922 one.
“The reason I am asking is because the current legislation falls under the
Ministry of Health. I want to hear if government now considers including all
three ministries. If that is the case, who will table it in this House?”
Khumalo asked.
He also asked to know if the Health minister is cognisant of the fact that the
1922 legislation is outdated since it talks about the need for people to have
licences to use the plant.
Khumalo asked the minister to be clear on what exactly is going to be
retabled.“Is he talking about the old or the future that we are in now? That
is why I want to understand the involvement of the other ministries,” Khumalo
submitted.
Medicinal purposes
The minister addressed the questions posed by the MPs by stating that he is
talking about the ‘nkwe’ approach in ensuring that the bill is tabled to
allow for research and medicinal purposes and further consider the element of
commercialisation. “It is for this reason that the other ministers need to be
involved so that we can agree on how to handle this. We are amending the 1922
law, but it is true that we have to look into whether there is nothing that
prevents Agriculture and Commerce from being involved. For us, we will
concentrate on the health issues and amend the 1922 one to address health
issues,” he said.
It should be noted that in June last year, it became apparent that the bill was
far from being passed. This became obvious during a sitting whereby some MPs
admitted that there were serious challenges with the proposed law. This happened
at a time when the then MPs were expected to adopt a report on the Bill, which
had been presented by the portfolio committee of the Ministry of Health and
Parliament was close to being dissolved. The following month (July 2023), the
then Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, who is now a senator, withdrew the bill
and offered a justification. Since 2018, Parliament has been doing a
back-and-forth whenever the time came for them to pass the bill.
In the same year, the legislators voted against a debate of a report tabled by
the select committee tasked with working on the Bill.  They further instructed
the Ministry of Health to withdraw it completely, to allow for further
consultations.  This was to be followed by a retabling in 2019, which however,
was met with resistance from some MPs who argued that the bill was being shoved
down their throats by outside pressure.  With government not giving up, the bill
was on the Parliament agenda in 2020, but on June 17 of the same year, it was
withdrawn during a sitting at the House of Assembly.
This time, the sitting was characterised by a back and forth of two factions of
the members of the House, one made up of those who wanted it passed and the
other who had come prepared to throw it out. The MPs who were against the
passing of the bill argued that there was a need to allow for further
consultations on it. They argued that the bill touched on a lot of emaSwati and,
therefore, there was a need for thorough consultations before it could be passed
in Parliament. In 2023, the then outgoing MPs once again showed resentment
towards the Bill and went to the extent of declaring that passing it will make
them lose votes in the upcoming general elections.
The main issue has been some clauses related to the issuance of licences or
permits for the production of cannabis for medicinal purposes and scientific
use. During the debates, it was stated that companies seeking to get licences
for the production of cannabis for medicinal and scientific use in the country
should at least have 33 per cent of emaSwati representation.
The delay in the passing of the bill has been criticised by experts who have
argued that the Kingdom of Eswatini was missing out on big business, while its
neighbouring countries were making money from planting cannabis for medicinal
purposes. It has been argued that as Parliament continues to toss the bill back
and forth, the country is missing out on a market share worth billions. In fact,
it is believed that the global cannabis market, regulated and illicit, is valued
at E5.9 trillion as reported by Medical Marijuana Inc, News.
Size of the market
According to the Global Cannabis Report compiled by Prohibition Partners, which
is a B2B (Business to Business) discovery platform for cannabis, it predicted
that the size of the market would increase to E123 billion by 2023. Latest
reports show that the market size had increased to about E207 billion.  Further,
in another report compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) in 2020, the United Nations (UN) voted to reschedule cannabis,
downgrading it by one level from the list of the world’s most dangerous drugs
– those deemed to have no therapeutic value and which require special
governance protocols due to their uniquely high-risk profile. While cannabis is
still classified as a highly dangerous drug, this move marked the most
significant change to the body’s policy on the plant in 60 years.
The vote was based on a series of cannabis liberalisation proposals submitted by
the World Health Organisation (WHO), and although the UN rejected all the other
WHO cannabis-related proposals (including removing CBD entirely from the
schedule of narcotic drugs), the vote was still an important milestone as a
tacit acknowledgement by the global body that the dangers to cannabis had long
been overstated, and that the plant has more therapeutic value than previously
recognised in the longstanding global framework of blanket prohibition.
It was following this that some countries began to realise the importance of
legalising cannabis for medical and also recreation purposes.  In the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) countries, only five countries, namely
Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi have legalised the use of
cannabis for medical purposes, recreation or both. Though Eswatini is known
around the world, according to Prohibition Partners as one of Africa’s major
distribution points, the selling, possession and transportation of cultivation
of cannabis remains illegal. It is illegal under the Opium and Habit-Forming
Drugs Act No. 37 of 1922 and the Pharmacy Act No. 38 of 1929.  Former Minister
Nkosi stated that Eswatini can largely benefit from the growing of cannabis.
Types of cannabis
She said there were many types of cannabis and that the advantage of the kingdom
was that the environment was conducive to the growth of the cannabis. The
minister noted this while responding to questions over the delay in the
enactment of the Cannabis Bill. This was after the Eswatini Cannabis Association
had noted that the ministry was partly to blame for dragging the bill long and
delaying its enactment. Meanwhile, the Eswatini Cannabis Association has for
years been arguing that cannabis has a huge economic benefit. The association is
of the view that that the legalisation of dagga will also benefit farmers and
give them more opportunities.Meanwhile, according to All Africa, Malawi
registered about 72 companies to grow and sell cannabis in that country.This was
confirmed in 2021 by the Malawi Cannabis Regulatory Authority (MCRA). Malawians
hailed this move by the government as more job opportunities were created in the
various sectors of the country’s economy.