NGO drills govt spin doctors on tobacco convention
Maranyane Ngwanaamotho | Friday March 28, 2014 14:32
The interim executive director of the NGO, Bontle Mbongwe said at the gathering that the training is meant to help the government be compliant with the convention and to understand what tobacco industry interference is.
“Public relations officers should be informed. They should understand the issues so that they can represent their ministries well and even advise the government on what the framework stands for,” she explained.
She stated that the ATN’s task is not only to criticise but to educate government to recognise the NGO as a partner in the fight against the use of tobacco. She pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has not understood concerns raised by ATN against its partnership with Japan Tobacco to research Kgengwe genes.
Mbongwe said that ATN does not challenge the project itself, but the partnership with the tobacco industry, which is against the protocols of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to which Botswana is a signatory.
“We are not challenging the credibility or the importance of the project itself. We are saying that according to the tobacco framework that the country is a signatory to, the government is not supposed to accept any sponsorship or enter into partnerships with the tobacco industry in whatever project,” she asserted.
The Minister of Agriculture, Christiaan de Graaff has defended the partnership with Japan Tobacco saying it was beneficial to Botswana as the country stood to benefit from the deal in terms of technological transfer and investment.
He said the partnership was forged with the nation’s interest at heart. Mbongwe submits that partnerships with or accepting sponsorships from tobacco promotes the industry. “The moment you mention tobacco, the industry is being promoted, even comments from the minister and his Permanent Secretary sounded like they were promoting the industry,” she said.
Early this year, the ministry partnered with Japan Tobacco on research on a novel gene found and isolated from wild species of watermelon commonly known as Kgengwe in the Kgalagadi and Ghanzi regions. De Graaff said the partnership is not going to be used to enhance the growing of tobacco even though the driving force is called Japan Tobacco.
The minister said researchers from his ministry in collaboration with those from Nara Institute of Science and Technology of Japan and Japan Tobacco were co-investors of the technology. He said Botswana stands to benefit from a once off payment of US$20,000 that includes taxes.