By ‘Majirata Latela
The illegal growing of cannabis by some Basotho has caught the attention of the Lesotho government, with health minister Semano Sekatle calling on investors to plough back to the communities by offering education to the unlicensed growers.
Speaking at yesterday’s launch of Morama Hemp Holdings and Cultivation which grows medicinal cannabis, Sekatle urged investors and those growing the plant to give back to the affected communities.
Morama Holdings is a company which grows and cultivates hemp at Maqhaka in the Berea district for medicinal purposes. Hemp is a botanical class of cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use.
The growth of the plant in the country has seen the kingdom being the first African state to issue cannabis licenses to investors in 2017.
That attracted international investment which quickly followed in 2018.
The plant is already being exported to companies around the world, where it is processed into cannabis products.
Sekatle told the gathering at the event that those who obtained licenses before the emergence of Covid-19 are facing a catalogue of challenges. He said they have to contend with the reality of selling their documents as production came to a grinding halt.
That, he added, resulted in investors shying away from entering the country for possible investment in the production.
“Some investors did come and promised to start investing but when Covid-19 came, they packed their bags and left licence owners with the document only. They need help now from other investors, like those who invested in Morama Holdings to start producing. I therefore, plead with you on their behalf to help them secure investors.
“Basotho also need to be taught about the growing of medicinal cannabis so that they can start producing on their own. Many licence holders did not know that securing a license is even cheaper than starting to produce.
“It is high time that the ministry of development planning started putting money to educate Basotho in the growing of this product,” Sekatle urged.
He promised that his ministry was on the verge of amending laws that govern the production of the plant for medicinal purposes this year.
This has been prompted by the realisation that many Basotho hold such licenses but are not involved w in the production.
He explained that the ministry cannot ignore the fact that some locals hold such licenses but do not add any value to the wealth of the people.
In the past few years, this publication has reported on farmers who were are angered by unfulfilled promises by companies that usurp their cropping land and fail to pay for compensation.
But with the new investment in the Kanana D08 Community Council, there is hope that community members will get the best deals.
The owner of a seven-hectare field who witnessed the launch, Nchafatso Nthongoa, told this publication that residents in the area “are satisfied with the amount of money paid out to the crop field owners.”
“Each hectare was bought for M100 000. I had seven hectares and I was paid M700 000 in the sale of my field. I am satisfied because I have heard that in other districts there are people who paid far less money.
“Also, when employing, the company gave first preference to the field owners. Each of the 17 people whose fields were bought have at least one family member working in the company,” he said.
At the same occasion, Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro advised Morema holdings to engage with the local communities so that they will not feel left out of the company.
“My advice to the company is to have an engagement plan with the communities as a way of showing appreciation to them. That will be the key to the sustainability of the company.
“Please make sure you engage with the people from these communities at all time because if they are happy then your business will operate smoothly,” Majoro emphasised.
He also advised the health ministry to start keeping track of the licenses it has issued thus far. He said he has asked the current and former ministers to provide this information but they were in the dark.
Last year theReporter published a story about the community of Ha Letsoela in Berea who were crying foul, with field owners demanding that Highlands Pure, a cannabis company operating in the area, should increase the fields rental fees from M200 monthly to M5 000 per hectare of land.
The people in this village are in a 60-year contract with Highlands Pure to allow the company to grow cannabis, and the contract is set to be reviewed in every 10 years.
Transformation Resource Centre’s local governance and community empowerment officer Tṧitso Kapa said at the time that Lesotho had a huge “gap as it does not have a compensation policy.” He said Lesotho did not have a clear framework that explains how much can a person earn from a square metre of land used.
“Compensation rates are very low on communal and individual ownership. It is hard to determine how much the field owners should earn. It has not been ascertained as to how much the owners should receive,” Kapa said.
“Many times people violate agreements because there is no exact policy to guide these issues. Also, investors sometimes take advantage because of the absence of such a policy. They normally say they are legally obligated to compensate people but when it comes to corporate social responsibility, they say they do not have any legal obligation that ties them to do it. This is because the law only tells them to give a certain percentage of their profits. It is easy for such investors to claim they are not making profits,” he said.
