Gulu women hail waragi ban
SEVERAL women in Gulu district have said they are happy with the recent ban by the Government on production and consumption of sachet-waragi.
By Oketch Bitek
SEVERAL women in Gulu district have said they are happy with the recent ban by the Government on production and consumption of sachet-waragi.
The waragi was banned recently after several people died due to its poisonous content. Health experts discovered that the waragi has methanol, an industrial chemical, which is dangerous to human life.
People interviewed by The New Vision last week in Gulu Municipality and Omoro county said consumption of the substance had rendered most men economically unproductive since they were drunk most of the time.
“It is good that the Government has taken that step. Our men had sacrificed their lives to the deadly brew,†said Christine Ayat, a market vendor.
She said the ban would also reduce domestic violence. Jennifer Lakot, who brews Acholi traditional Lujutu, which is milder compared to the sachet-waragi, said the ban would bring back her customers, who had deserted her in preference to the highly potent substance.
Okwera Lumedo, 66, a resident of Tetugu IDP camp, lamented that primary school pupils could afford to buy the sachets at sh100 and sh200 and consumed the waragi in classrooms without the teachers’ knowledge.
The LC5 chairman, Norbert Mao, recently called upon district councillors to formulate by-laws to reinforce the ban.
SEVERAL women in Gulu district have said they are happy with the recent ban by the Government on production and consumption of sachet-waragi.
The waragi was banned recently after several people died due to its poisonous content. Health experts discovered that the waragi has methanol, an industrial chemical, which is dangerous to human life.
People interviewed by The New Vision last week in Gulu Municipality and Omoro county said consumption of the substance had rendered most men economically unproductive since they were drunk most of the time.
“It is good that the Government has taken that step. Our men had sacrificed their lives to the deadly brew,†said Christine Ayat, a market vendor.
She said the ban would also reduce domestic violence. Jennifer Lakot, who brews Acholi traditional Lujutu, which is milder compared to the sachet-waragi, said the ban would bring back her customers, who had deserted her in preference to the highly potent substance.
Okwera Lumedo, 66, a resident of Tetugu IDP camp, lamented that primary school pupils could afford to buy the sachets at sh100 and sh200 and consumed the waragi in classrooms without the teachers’ knowledge.
The LC5 chairman, Norbert Mao, recently called upon district councillors to formulate by-laws to reinforce the ban.