US Firm Says it Has Obtained Permit to Grow Marijuana on 500-Acre Farm in Kenya

An American company has revealed that it has obtained a permit to grow marijuana in Kenya.

GoIP Global Inc., a New York-based firm has informed its shareholders that it will be growing the stimulant on a 500-acre piece of land in the East African country.

The New York's OTC Markets-listed firm has announced the news to its shareholders in a statement dated March 7th.

“After visiting Kenya and meeting with officials in the country, I am very excited about the prospects this agreement (license) brings to our company. This is the first of several critical transactions that will transform GoIP into a relevant member of the burgeoning cannabis industry,” says company chairman Ike Sutton in the statement dated March 7th.

“The lease term will be for 25 years and Kenya being on the Equator provides the best conditions for all-year-round production,” the statement adds as quoted by the Business Daily.

The Business Daily, however, reports that Kenyan authorities have denied issuing such a license, stating that marijuana remains a banned plant in the country’s laws. 

“I am not aware of the licensing of the said firm to grow marijuana. As you are aware, cannabis is not in the list of crops that we currently regulate,” says Agricultural Research Principal Secretary Hamadi Boga.

Boga says that the law must be amended to allow cultivation of cannabis in the country.

GoIP in its statement said it had obtained an interim license from Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture allowing it to cultivate bhang.

The US firm says the crop grown in Kenya would be for export to European Union countries and Canada, where the demand for cannabis for medicinal and leisure purposes have been on the rise.

Kenyan laws criminalize dealings in marijuana with huge fines and jail terms recommended to deter possession, growing, and trafficking of the drug.