ARUA | KILLER GIN | IMPOUNDED

74 cartons of City 5 pineapple-flavored gin, valued at about sh1.7 million and kept at a commercial center in the Ayivu division of Arua city, have been impounded by police.

This new vision was revealed on Wednesday by Josephine Angucia, a police spokesman for West Nile.

She urged the general public to be watchful and report anyone who continues to possess or sell the outlawed spirit.

"The City 5 pineapple-flavored gin was burned from the market after murdering people in the area," Angucia told New Vision. "It was found that it was not certified by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards for consumption."

Angucia claims that the police took action after receiving a tip that a man had kept boxes of the tainted city 5 gin in two different homes from a whistleblower.

Despite the restriction, some continue to sell and consume city 5 gin. According to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Act, anyone discovered continuing to sell or produce a substance that is not in conformity with the standards faces legal consequences.

She pleaded with the general public to alert the appropriate authorities about anyone who retains and sells City 5 gin with a pineapple taste.

According to police and health department reports, 5 pineapple-flavored gins from Madi Okollo and 4 from the Arua district caused 9 blindness cases and over 20 deaths.

Four persons who just avoided death after swallowing city 5 gin are said to have gone blind, and numerous more in the Vurra Sub County, Arua District, have partially lost their vision.

The leaders of the Visually Impaired in the Arua District have been inspired by this to educate the public about the risks of ingesting poisonous drinks from open markets.

The leaders are touring the four sub-counties of Ajia, Vurra, Logiri, and Arivu to make sure the locals are properly informed about the negative effects of the uncertified drinks that are overrunning the marketplaces.

The impacted should be upfront about their situation to receive support, according to Muzamil Ali, a disability inclusion officer with Light for the World International.

According to Moses Amayo, general secretary of the Arua District Association of the Blind, it is unfortunate when blindness is forced upon a person as a result of lifestyle choices.

The community development officer for special needs and the elderly in the Arua districts, Jean Longo Ayikoru, argues that the blind and visually handicapped need to be cared for and safeguarded.

Four people were detained in connection with the deaths in late August after it was determined that 14 people had died after ingesting the deadly killer gin produced in Arua city. Three of them were charged with manslaughter and are currently being held on remand while the high court decides what will happen to them.