Commission engages stakeholders on tobacco rules
The Tobacco Commission (TC) on Friday engaged traditional leaders, police investigators and prosecutors from the Central Region on the new Tobacco Industry Act, especially child labour issues.
TC corporate planning and development manager Hellings Nasoni said they incorporated the chiefs and police in the sensitisation campaign because of the roles they play in ensuring that citizens abide by laws.
He said: “We thought that we should sensitise the police and chiefs to understand the Tobacco Industry Act as it relates to child labour and how much it is impacting on the marketability and sustainability of our tobacco industry.
“We realise that in the villages it is the chiefs who look after their people and them being fully aware of the new law and understanding the evils of child labour is very critical.”
On his part, Assistant Commissioner of Police Semawatti Chisale commended TC for engaging the law enfocers, saying this will help them get acquainted with the new Act.
Traditional Authority Kayembe of Dowa stressed on the importance of creating awareness, especially on what Malawi stands to lose if child labour practices continue.
The workshop followed a United States of America (USA) ban on all tobacco imports from Malawi over allegations of child labour. Before the ban in 2019, the USA bought about nine percent of all the tobacco Malawi exported.
