Henry Mukasa
22 October 2009
Kampala — DRAMA erupted at Parliament when a man defended the growing of marijuana and mayirungi as a cash crop. MPs on the defence and internal affairs committee and journalists were left in laughter when Dennis Lee Onguzu from Maracha warned of unrest in West Nile region should the growing of mayirungi be banished.
Onguzu also opposed the Police call for stiff penalties for dealers in narcotic drugs. He said over 10,000 people in the West Nile exported the crop to Sudan and the DR Congo.
"It's their major source of income. During the recent famine, the people survived because of mayirungi," Onguzu said.
The committee, chaired by Mathias Kasamba (NRM), is scrutinising the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (control) Bill 2007.
Criminal investigations department chief Edward Ochom told the committee that the consumption of narcotic drugs and use of the country as a conduit for the drugs was high, yet the anti-narcotics law was too weak.
He lamented that a big section of the young generation has become drug addicts. MP Yokasi Bihande (FDC) also said marijuana was a cash crop in Kasese district.
Among the pygmy community, children of seven years consume drugs as part of their breakfast before they go hunting and gathering fruits, Bihande added.
Abura Pirir (NRM), the vice-chairperson of the committee, shocked the MPs more when he submitted that the whole of Iriri and Namalu mountains in Karamoja were covered with mayirungi and miraa, another narcotic plant.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
