Uganda’s growers upset over tobacco bill

The Uganda Tobacco Growers Association (UTGA) has petitioned the speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, to consider their views on the Tobacco Control Bill, which is yet to be tabled.

The farmers are opposed to a number of provisions within the proposed bill, including one that bans the sale and display of tobacco products in specified places and another that prohibits the display of tobacco products at points of sale.

Morris Candia, a tobacco grower for the past 15 years and a spokesman for the 60,000 member association, said that if the bill were passed into law as it was, poverty levels would spike among households that depended on tobacco to meet their daily expenses.