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Malawi defends decision to ask Mike Tyson to be its cannabis ambassador



Malawi legalized the cultivation and processing of cannabis for medicinal purposes last year, though it stopped short of restricting recreational use.

This week, Malawi Agriculture Minister Lobin Low sent a letter to Tyson – who get into the cannabis industry in the US through many joint venture projects – invite him to be the face of the country’s cannabis industry to attract investors and create more opportunities for the tourism industry.

The department did not say whether Tyson, who became the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986, would accept his offer.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Tyson and the American Cannabis Association, which the department said was involved in the sale, for comment.

The move has sparked controversy, with the Malawian Center for Public Accountability (CPA) accusing the government of ignoring Tyson’s past allegations.

The 55-year-old boxer was jailed in 1992 after being found guilty of raping Desiree Washington, a black Miss America contestant, in a hotel room. He was released in 1995.

Kondwani Munthali, acting director of the CPA, said in a statement sent to CNN Friday that appointing a convicted rapist would be “a mistake,” adding: “It is true that he paid the debt. his three years in prison, but we’re saying the face of a nation is something beyond rehab. We want (a) a less controversial character than Tyson.”

However, Agriculture Department spokesman Gracian Lungu dismissed the criticism in a statement to CNN on Friday, saying: “Malawi as a nation believes Mr. reform when he was paroled.”

Lungu added that “the moral appeal of some of you, continuing to keep Mr. Tyson within the wall of moral impotence does not hold the country.”

The Minister of Gender, Patricia Kaliati, echoed Lungu’s sentiments.

She told CNN on Friday that she doesn’t see a problem with the government’s choice of ambassador because Tyson is a well-known businessman with a good knowledge of the cannabis business.

“It’s about the business, (and) economics of the cannabis business,” Kaliati said, adding: “We look for celebrities, decision-makers who can say something that can be recognized internationally. take.”

She said his role will be business-focused and “he will not be working with the gender minister on issues relating to women and children.”

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