14 October 2024 by Pascalinah Kabi

Est. Read Time: 4m 15s

Listen to this article:

---

In the quiet, pristine Morama Holdings cannabis facility in Lesotho, the air is thick with the rich, complex aroma of freshly dried cannabis buds, meticulously stored in this facility.

As parliamentarians from Lesotho and Namibia enter the facility nestled in Ha Buasono in the Berea district, they are greeted by an air filled with an aroma characterised by earthy and herbal notes, lingers in the air, showcasing the quality of the crop

“This is the smell of the products,” Lineo Griffiths, Morama Holdings Assistant Operator’s Manager told these parliamentarians.

As visitors step into Morama Holdings’ production room, the chilling temperature is hard to ignore. Griffiths explained that the cool environment is essential for ensuring the safety and preservation of the product.

“I need it to be as cold as it can because the moment, I introduce heat, that’s also introducing mold and I don’t want mold on my product,” Griffiths said told Morama Holdings’ visitors.

During their visit, members of Namibia’s Portfolio Committee on Gender Equality, Social Development, and Family Affairs toured the facility as part of a broader benchmarking mission on Lesotho’s health sector.

Committee Chairperson Gotthard Kasuto noted that the Namibian parliament is currently debating a motion to legalise cannabis. He said the insights gained from their visit to Lesotho would be instrumental in informing those discussions.

“For us we are more interested to see that if Lesotho is doing this, how do they do it? Also, just to learn that the cannabis has other benefits, health benefits than what we always see people smoking, not knowing that there are also some other health benefits,” Kasuto said.

Griffiths explained that the benefits of the medical cannabis included relieving anxiety.

“So, from the seed itself, it will determine whether it’s a CBD or a THC. CBD is the one we usually find in the oils. Some people make teas, gummy bears, it’s really to help you sleep and alleviate pain, and also, it’s good with anxiety,” Griffiths said.

Cannabis acts in SADC

In 2008, the Lesotho parliament enacted the Drug of Abuse Act. Under Section 12 of this Act, the Minister of Health is authorised to issue licenses to companies for the cultivation or manufacture of cannabis, provided the applicant meets all the requirements outlined in Section 11.

These requirements include a written application detailing the applicant’s full name, private and business addresses; the specific activities related to the application; the business name and the address where the proposed activity will take place.

The applicant must also provide the premises for storing controlled substances, chemicals, equipment, or materials; the security arrangements for each location; the name, residential address, and qualifications of the person overseeing the activities; and payment of a prescribed fee.

Nine years after the enactment of the Drug of Abuse Act of 2008, Lesotho became the first African country to issue licenses to produce medical cannabis in 2017.

Zimbabwe became the second African country, after Lesotho, to legalise cannabis cultivation for medical and scientific purposes in 2018. The following year, in 2019, the country issued its first commercial cultivation permit.

The same year Zimbabwe legalised marijuana, South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled that it is legal for adults to grow and smoke cannabis in the privacy of their homes. Additionally, the state permits licensed physicians to prescribe medical cannabis products for any health condition without a specific list of approved conditions.

In 2021, Zambia enacted the Cannabis Act and the Industrial Hemp Act, both legalising the cultivation and production of cannabis solely for economic and medicinal purposes.

This makes Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Zambia the only countries in the Southern African Development Community where the use of medical cannabis is permitted by law.

In contrast, the use of marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes remains illegal in Angola, Botswana, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Eswatini, and Tanzania.

Namibia discusses cannabis motion

In November 2020, the office of the Namibian Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila launched a task force to examine the regulation of cannabis in the country.

The chairperson of the Namibian portfolio committee on Gender Equality, Social Development, and Family Affairs, Gotthard Kasuto, told the Lesotho media the Namibian parliament is currently discussing a motion to legalise cannabis.

“We also wanted to come and see, because back home we also have a motion that is seeking for the legalisation of marijuana,” Kasuto said on October 10, 2024.

He added: “Obviously when we go back home (Namibia) we will be able to see how we can replicate what they (Lesotho) are doing here. That’s the aim and the purpose of our visit here.”

Kasuto explained that in Namibia, a proposal from a company interested in growing tobacco was rejected due to community pushback.

“But here I learned that Lesotho is listed to grow cannabis. There are other health benefits which we also have learned because it goes to say even some people will understand that even some people that are asthmatic, it can also assist with that. Even people maybe that have other pains and all that, those are a lot of things that we have really learned from them.

“Meaning that these are things that as countries, even within the southern regions, we need to learn from each other and see how we really do this also back home. Back home, we also have fertile land especially in the northern part of the country, where there is enough water,” Kasuto said.

While there is potential for collaboration and learning among Southern African countries, recent developments indicate that Namibia may be cautious in pursuing cannabis cultivation.

“We don’t see the need to legalise marijuana as a way to manage pain at the present moment. We have adequate medication which can be administered intramuscularly or intravenously to act immediately,” Namibia’s Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangulahe, told The Brief in May 2024.