SINKAMBA GOES TO MALAWI FOR CANNABIS PRODUCTION
PETER Sinkamba has disclosed that he has ventured into the production of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes in Malawi because the government in Zambia has refused to operationalise the Cannabis Act of 2021 and the Industrial Hemp of 2021.
Mr Sinkamba, the interim chairperson for People’s Pact and Green Party president has accused the UPND administration of refusing to operationalise the Cannabis Act of 2021 and the Industrial Hemp of 2021 because the law was passed during the Patriotic Front (PF) tenure.
Mr Sinkamba said he had been forced to start production of cannabis for medicinal and industrial use in Malawi where the law allowed.
He said the laws on cannabis were passed when the PF was in office but when UPND came into power, instead of implementing laws, the government decided to shelve the proposed Acts.
Mr Sinkamba claimed that UPND had been giving excuses in implementing the law on cannabis and had they been part of the formulation, the government would have easily understood the laws.
“Because of the conduct of the UPND to refuse to implement the Cannabis Act of 2021 and the Industrial Hemp of 2021, which were assented to by President Edgar Lungu on May 19, 2021, those have not been implemented. So, what we have done is, we have gone to Malawi where we have an open market for everyone to participate,” Mr Sinkamba said. He said the laws on cannabis could not take off because they have not been operationalised by the current regime. Mr Sinkamba said the Zambian Hemp Growers and Industries Association was formed by individuals who grew cannabis with over 60 companies affiliated to it and that the association had set up 10 companies, one in each province. “We were ready to start the implementation of the programme had the laws been operationalised. After the elections, nothing happened.
We tried to lobby, nothing. We engaged Malawi and our members are doing well there.
We hope when we form Government in 2026, we will be able to implement this agenda,” he said. Mr Sinkamba said those in Government did not tend to engage with others of the growing and production of cannabis because they did not understand that it could be a huge foreign exchange earner for the country.
He said when others came, the people in Government withdrew because they never wanted to be part of the opposition.