Mild stimulant used to be Maua’s most valuable export, bringing prosperity to all involved. A year since it was outlawed, the local economy has been devastated

In a quiet and unassuming town tucked away in a hilly part of eastern Kenya, the British home secretary Theresa May’s name is spoken with barely concealed anger. Since her role in the ban of the town’s most valuable export, she’s become a universally vilified figure.

For more than two decades, Maua enjoyed booming business propelled by the growth and sale of khat, known locally as miraa, a popular herb whose leaves and stems are chewed for the mild high they offer.

Police on Wednesday claimed their four-month Operation Fiyela had smashed a hole in organised crime in the province.

Since operations began on March 1 police had made more than 60 000 arrests, recovered more than 1 000 firearms and seized almost seven tons of marijuana.

After widespread criticism in the national media, provincial government along with the police on Wednesday announced the successes of the operation.

In a media briefing held in Pietermaritzburg, KZN Premier Senzo Mchunu, MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Willies Mchunu and provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni sat to discuss urgent security and policing matters in the province.

An Accra Fast Track High Court (Criminal Division) has remanded a 46-year-old businessman into the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for allegedly exporting 6,240kgs of cannabis sativa, a narcotic drug worth $20m, to the United Kingdom (UK).

The accused, Kofi Appianin Ennin, was arrested through a collaboration between the UK security agencies and Ghana’s Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) when the drug had successfully left the shores of Ghana for that country.

The businessman is facing a two-count charge each of exportation of narcotic drug without licence from the minister of health and possession of narcotic drug without lawful authority.

African Leaders Should Legalise Marijuana – Seun Kuti

Afrobeat crown prince, Seun Kuti, currently on tour of U.S. and Europe, has intensified his campaign for the legalisation of marijuana in Africa as it’s being done in the western world.

Seun, who has not hidden his love for weeds, like his father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, took the campaign further when he took to the social media to share a picture of marijuana packaged as a consumable in one of the cities in the United States.

“While the blind government of Africa are still harassing nature and holding back the economic potential of marijuana in Africa, this is what’s happening in the United States of America. #lifeondroad going on astral travel now…” he tweeted days ago.

ACCRA Popular Ghanaian reggae singer "Blakk Rasta" has been summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee after he said that most of the West African country's legislators use marijuana, officials said on Friday.

Speaker Doe Adzaho has issued an order for the musician, whose real name is Abubakar Ahmed, to answer to lawmakers for damaging the reputation of parliament.

The comments, made on radio station HitzFM, angered many lawmakers and Ahmed could be prosecuted or be made to withdraw the comments and publicly apologize, a senior clerk told Reuters.

The 40-year-old musician, famous in Ghana for a song eulogizing Barack Obama that earned him a rare dinner meeting with the U.S. president when he visited Accra in 2009, said he was misunderstood.

Reggae musician, Blakk Rasta says about 80 percent of Members of Parliament smoke marijuana.

Controversial reggae artist and radio presenter with Accra based Hitz FM, Blakk Rasta has disclosed been called to the privileges committee of the Ghanaian parliament to answer questions on his utterance that 80% of its members use marijuana will be the least of his worries.

Speaking on News Night on Joy FM, the presenter disclosed almost everybody knowingly or unknowingly used the illegal substance hence his utterance which makes MPs no exception. Read more MPs drag Blakk Rasta to Parliament over ‘wee’ smoking allegation

Opposition Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba says if he was voted in last January, the country would have been harvesting its first medicinal marijuana crop this month worth US$3 billion from the planned 129 farms countrywide.

Mr. Sinkamba says on his social media posting that to date his party would have earned US $ 3 billion , which is half Zambia’s budget for 2015 had he been voted Republican President .

“ With Green Party in government, by now there would have been no deficit, no nkongole ( debt ) , but a thriving economy like it used to be in the 1960’s and 1970s “ he said.

Chile, the country that produces copper six times more than Zambia has just legalized marijuana, and we are still shamefully grappling with realities, he adds

In a recent study done by Washington State University, scientists studied cannabis use amongst hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin, also called “pymies.” Scientists found more pygmies smoked cannabis on average than in the Western world, and cannabis use was associated with having a healthier gut with less parasitic worms. The use of cannabis and other psychoactive plants might originate from a subconscious drive to rid the body of internal parasites and other maladies.

Tanzania ranks fourth in the world as a producer of dried marijuana.

ARUSHA, Tanzania, (Xinhua) -- Police in northern Tanzania on Saturday announced to have confiscated 12.4 tons of marijuana, the biggest seizure of the illicit drug of the year in the East African nation.

Arusha Regional Police Chief Liberatus Sabas told reporters here that the seizure is part of their commitment to freeing the country from narcotics and drugs.

"This is a result of collective effort made by the police force, Anti-Narcotics Unit and other security agencies," Sabas said.

Marijuana is commonly referred to as bhang, bangi, pot, ganja, vela or weed among other names depending on the unique strain. In the scientific domain it is known as Cannabis Sativa containing the compound delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that causes the “high” effect.

Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act of 1994, classifies the possession, sale, growing and distribution of marijuana illegal. This law is almost theoretical since it is rarely adhered to by patrons and by extension law enforcement officers who meet to the ready market of supply and demand.