Ugandan President Yuweri Museveni has allegedly manipulated the legal process to ensure his government enjoys a cannabis monopoly. It has emerged that he over-rode his own Health Minister who has the authority to issue licenses by using another government agency to grant the necessary permissions. This has left at least 25 potential investors out in the cold and created policy paralysis with cabinet in a deadlock as to whether to approve draft cannabis regulations drawn up by the Ministry of Health.
Museveni was returned to power in a highly controversial presidential election on 14 January 2021 after winning 59% of the vote against the 35% share of his main rival Bobbi Wine (real name Robert Kyagulanyi). In what was one of the country’s most turbulent election campaigns, Wine accused Museveni of fabricating the results and called the poll “the most fraudulent election in the history of Uganda” .
The circumstances around the formation of Uganda’s exclusive cannabis company, Industrial Hemp (U), are just as controversial.
According to African Business in an online report on 21 January 2021, Together Pharma and Industrial Hemp (U) have a joint venture, Industrial Globus, which operates the cultivating and processing cannabis at a facility in Kasese in western Uganda. Development started in 2018 and in April 2020 the farm dispatched Uganda’s first-ever commercial cannabis exports. (See Israeli police commissioner in Ugandan cannabis deal) It looks set to expand its exports this year, after successfully exporting its first harvests during 2020.
Read more at cannabiz-africa.com