By Francis Lubega
6th July 2023
The government is seeking to remove Khat from the list of prohibited narcotic drugs in the statute books of Uganda.
Khat is a flowering plant native to eastern and southern Africa. A dried preparation of the flowering tops or other parts of the cannabis plant, smoked or consumed, generally illegally, as a psychoactive or psychostimulant drug among consumers.
While meeting Parliament’s Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs that is reviewing the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, 2023 on Thursday, Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, the Minister of Internal Affairs said Khat should be considered as a cash crop and medicinal substance.
In comparison with coffee and alcohol, Otafiire argued that Khat is not as dangerous, and therefore, Parliament should consider decriminalizing it to enable Uganda like neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia among others.
Kepher Kuchana Kateu, the Director of the Government Analytical Laboratory – GAL said that Khat belongs to “cannabis” and refers to all products derived from the plant Cannabis sativa which has about 540 chemical substances.
Kuchana told the Committee chaired by Wilson Kajwengye, the Nyabushozi County Member of Parliament in Kiruhura District that Khat is widely grown on the African continent for medical values, adding that though harmful when abused, the plant provides raw material for textiles industries.
Bukooli County Representative in Namayingo District, Adidwa Abudu, wondered why the Government is isolating Khat after the 9th Parliament enacted the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 2015 to address rampant incidents of mental health disorders in the country linked to its consumption.
The government reintroduced the Bill on May 23rd, 2023, two weeks after the Constitutional Court nullified the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act on grounds that at the time of its passing Parliament lacked the required quorum.
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