General Secretary of the Genera Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, has lamented the impact of the plant breeders’ law, describing it as unfavourable to Ghanaian farmers.

According to him, the decision by the Supreme Court to unanimously dismiss a case filed against the regulation of plant breeders does not bode well for farmers. He revealed that the Union regards the law as a form of subjugating the Ghanaian farmer and everybody under foreign control.

Apart from legalities, Mr Kareweh questioned why the law will punish the ordinary peasant farmer, just because he has shared some seed with somebody else which is claimed to be a seed either from a multinational or somebody they call a breeder. To this end, he stated that the Supreme Court statement that jurisdiction was not properly invoked must be ascertained.

“As Agriculture Workers’ Union, we have been part of this thinking that the plant breeders bill, its content and its intentions, are not favourable to the Ghanaian farmer, it’s not favourable to the Ghanaian cause of trying to be independent and control its means of production… We think that the law with its present terms is not a good law for Ghana, it’s not going to promote agricultural production, it’s going to impoverish already farmers and take away their fundamental rights to own their own seed and also share that seed with other people.”
Edward Kareweh

Mr Kareweh stated that the punishment for the violation of the law is also punitive. By this, he questioned why matters of this nature which are not hard core criminal offences, should receive such a severe punishment. Apart from that, he highlighted that per the peasant farmer population and their contribution to food production in this country, it’s so huge and must be factored in.

“Up to 70% of domestic food production, it’s by these peasant farmers. Now, they can no longer share and distribute their seeds with other people because the seeds have been patented by somebody else. We all know some of these knowledge is an indigenous knowledge… Why should the communal knowledge be taken away from the community and it now becomes criminal. This is another form of human rights abuse because the farmers have the right to keep their knowledge.”
Edward Kareweh

Decision by Supreme Court on plant breeders law

Elaborating on whether the Union will take action, Mr Kareweh stated that once the Supreme Court has given a decision and it is yet to give reasons, whatever reasons and decision it makes is final. However, he revealed that he is excited that the Court is saying that its jurisdiction is not properly invoked.

A seven-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie on May 31 unanimously dismissed the case. Justice Bonnie indicated that “the case fails in its entirety as the jurisdiction of the court has not been properly invoked”.

Also, he said the Court’s full reasons will be available on October 2, 2023. Other panel members were Justices Gabriel Pwamang, Professor Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, Lovelace Johnson, Emmanuel Y. Kulendi and Barba Ackah-Yensu. Lead counsel for the group Wayoe Ghanamannti told JoyNews he disagrees with the decisions.

It will be recalled that food advocacy group, Food Sovereignty Ghana dragged the Attorney General to the Supreme Court contending that portions of the plant breeders law are unconstitutional.

The group through its lawyers argued that these portions of the law constitute “an unnecessary infringement on the farmers’ rights to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds and other propagating material”.

Additionally, it pointed out that the law hinders “farmers’ right to propagate material as same is hindered by authorisation”. However, despite its lawsuit, the Supreme Court has dismissed it.

Parliament in 2020 passed the Plant Variety Protection Act, 2020 (ACT 1050) to regulate breeders.

A breeder under this law is a person who bred or discovered and developed a variety, the employer of the person or the successor in title of the person. The law makes a breeder bound to any measure taken by Ghana to regulate the “production, certification and marketing of material of a variety of the importation or exportation of the material.