(ANSA) - ROME, NOVEMBER 25 - Malawi has asked Mike Tyson to become the country's official ambassador for cannabia crops, as reported by the BBC.
Agriculture Minister Lobin Low sent an invitation letter to the former boxing champion, stating that legalization in Malawi for medical use has created new opportunities.
Tyson, who was world heavyweight champion, is now an entrepreneur and invested in a cannabis farm in the United States, but Malawi's move was criticized because the man was jailed for rape in 1992 and released in 1995, at less than three years after his sentence. The Malaysian Civil Society Group Center for Public Responsibility said in a statement that it "fails to understand why Malawi would like to have a rapist convicted as a brand ambassador, especially at this time when efforts to curb violence against women are on the agenda of the government".
The Department of Agriculture said the U.S. Cannabis Association was facilitating the deal with Tyson, and the head of its Malawi branch, Wezi Ngalamila, told the BBC that the former champion accepted the invitation. that arrangements are underway for his visit to the country: "Tyson will work with us," he said.
Malawi legalized the cultivation and processing of cannabis for medical use last year, and the country's Ministry of Agriculture encouraged farmers to grow it.
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