By Wezzie Gausi:
The government has signed an agreement with Nyasa Tobacco for the sale of more than 10 million kilogrammes (kg) of tobacco belonging to the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM), weeks after the High Court cleared the institution to dispose of the commodity.
Attorney General Frank Mbeta confirmed the development in an interview on Tuesday, saying he also visited warehouses in Mzuzu on the same day to inspect the tobacco and was pleased with how it had been kept.
Mbeta said the sale agreement marked progress in efforts to unlock the value of the tobacco, which had been tied up in a legal dispute between SFFRFM and Eastbridge Estate.
“I visited the warehouses in Mzuzu today and I was pleased with how well the tobacco has been kept. The agreement is a good step forward because the tobacco will now be sold and the country will earn foreign exchange,” Mbeta said.
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He said the government was pleased that the matter had progressed from the court ruling to an agreement that could result in the tobacco finally being sold.
“This is progress that has been made and we, as government, are happy. The tobacco will be sold and the country will benefit from the forex,” Mbeta said.
SFFRFM Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Itaye said the tobacco has been taken to the Tobacco Commission for a quality assessment as part of the process leading to the sale.
Itaye said SFFRFM was confident that the tobacco remained in good condition despite having been stored in warehouses during the legal dispute.
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“We were certain that our tobacco was in good state and had been well kept. The Tobacco Commission has been involved in assessing its quality,” Itaye said.
The development follows a ruling by High Court Commercial Division Judge Trouble Kalua, who declared SFFRFM the lawful owner of both processed and unprocessed tobacco that had been at the centre of its dispute with Eastbridge Estate.
