Wee Farming: Parliament Takes On Supreme Court For Reversing Law To License Farmers

• The Speaker of Parliament has criticised the Supreme Court for striking out a law legalising wee cultivation
• The interior minister described the Supreme Court's decision to reverse the earlier legalisation of the plant's cultivation as a grievous error
• Parliament has restarted processes to enact a law to legalise the farming of some strains of wee

Ghana’s legislature has taken a swipe at the Supreme Court for halting the legalisation of the cultivation of certain strains of wee.

Speaking in Parliament, the Speaker of the House, Alban Bagbin, described the Supreme Court ruling striking out the previous law as “improper”.

Further, Bagbin felt Ghana was “losing a lot” due to the Supreme Court decision.

The Supreme Court ruled in a suit to strike out the law, arguing that Parliament did not follow due processes when it was enacted.

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“I don’t think that it is proper for the judiciary, without knowing how we conduct our business here, to really go into how we conduct our business and make such an important decision without consulting the House.”

The interior minister and Nandom MP, Ambrose Dery, also said the Supreme Court’s ruling was “a grievous error”.

New law not legalising recreational use

Dery stressed that the law that the Supreme Court struck out, Section 43 of the Narcotic Control Commission Act, would not legalise the plant's recreational use.

The law was only to provide an avenue for issuing special licences for wee production, Dery reiterated.

“…because we need to be in tandem with the international movement and also because we consider this to be a public health issue and of benefit to industries as well as of economic value, this amendment is necessary to let us put back what has been in my view declared as unconstitutional.”

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Dery also noted that countries like Rwanda, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi were on this trajectory and were benefiting from industrial wee cultivation.

International wee sales were projected at $35 billion in 2022.

Parliament has now restarted processes to pass the Narcotics Control Commission amendment bill into law.

Support for wee farming

YEN.com.gh has previously reported on calls for Ghana to legalise wee cultivation.

One of the most prominent calls has come from the late former UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan.

Annan said possible legalisation would halt the abuse of the plant, which is a popular recreational drug.

Actor Majid Michel also backed legalisation saying the plant was God-made and added he did not really mind if it was legalised.

Source: YEN.com.gh