Malawi defends tobacco expulsions

Lilongwe, 10 Sept-(ANA)-Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika has defended his decision to deport four senior foreign tobacco buyers for flouting minimum-price rules.

"For a long time I've been warning these exploitative colonialists to pay fair prices to farmers," he said.

The minimum prices were introduced for burley and flue-cured tobacco, Malawi's main export earners, last year.

But buyers have resisted them, saying the global economic crisis has made them unrealistic.

The four expatriates, who included two chief executives, worked for three of the largest tobacco-buying companies in the southern African country.

"I will not accept for my people to be exploited," said Mr Mutharika, who also serves as Malawi's agricultural minister. (ANA)

FA/ANA/10 September 2009---