By Eddie Ssejjoba

THE Police on Tuesday destroyed 15 acres of marijuana in Kasoozo village in Wakiso district, the leading growers of the prohibited drug in Buganda.

Wakiso District Police Commander Alison Agaba the Kampala Extra Police spokesman, Simeo Nsubuga and his counterpart for central region Moses Kafeero led about 50 officers armed with rifles and pangas.

They stormed Kasoozo, Zimudi and Kyegobo villages in Magogo parish in Kakiri sub-county, forcing men and women to flee their homes.

Many left behind heaps of marijuana drying in their compounds, while others abandoned heaps of the fresh plants that were being sorted out.

A dry tin of marijuana leaves goes for sh15,000. It is mainly supplied to the Kampala suburbs of Kaleerwe, Katanga, Namuwongo, Kisenyi and Makerere Kivulu, the police said.

Agaba said two large gardens were located in a forest reserve growing alongside other crops.

She said they arrested two men, Philemon Ndagizi and Vincent Lubowa and two ladies including an old woman, Ann Maria Kizakye and Jennifer Nalukwago. The two women were released to look after their children who were wailing.
“It is just the beginning. we shall destroy all gardens and arrest the culprits,” Agaba said.
She added that a 10-year-old P5 pupil of Namagera primary school was also arrested when he was found with two other adults sorting and packing the drug into sacks. The boy led the police to several homes and gardens including that of the chairman, saying he earned money for fees from helping others sort out the marijuana leaves.

The Police also stormed the home of the late Emmanuel Kiwanuka and recovered sacks of dry marijuana but his son, Vincent Makanga, who owned three gardens, fled.

Elderly men at Kyegobo trading centre, who testified to earning a living from the trade, stunned the police when they suggested that growing marijuana should be legalised.

Nsubuga condemned the weak laws that deal with drug dealers and suggested harsher punishments.

“Anyone dealing in marijuana should be sentenced to death on conviction to discourage the practice.”

Kafeero also condemned local leaders who support the practice, saying they would be dealt with.

He, however, urged the local leaders to participate in the operation.