Waragi sold on streets
Apr 10, 2009
IT is Friday evening and Wandegeya, a city suburb, has come to life. Along the streets, vendors, who sell sweets and cigarettes are also supplying waragi in 100ml sachets. Seven young men, some with trousers hanging loosely on their buttocks, buy a few sa
By Chris Kiwaulo
IT is Friday evening and Wandegeya, a city suburb, has come to life. Along the streets, vendors, who sell sweets and cigarettes are also supplying waragi in 100ml sachets. Seven young men, some with trousers hanging loosely on their buttocks, buy a few sachets, pocket them and walk off to Ground Zero, a pub nearby.
I catch up with one of them, who calls himself Steve, a student. “I don’t ‘feel’ the beer and it is expensive, so we take waragi and top up with one beer,†he says.
To get drunk with beer, he needs seven bottles at sh14,000, which is too costly. So he goes into the pub with a few sachets of waragi to get drunk with fewer bottles of beer.
Back to the streets, I take a closer look at the vendors’ merchandise. He has stocked a few brands of waragi, including names I had never seen.In the city centre, the story is no different. During the day, the vendors sell stuff like sweets and cigarettes.
When the sun goes down they add waragi sachets to their merchandise. Their biggest customers are students, taxi drivers and touts. Sometimes the sachets are only pulled out at a customer’s request.
According to Saturday Vision’s investigations, girls smuggle waragi into schools by stuffing it into empty packets of sanitary towels. Soccer fans smuggle it into stadiums in their socks.
Around the Kampala old taxi park, there are vendors who hawk waragi in khaki envelopes. A customer asks for ‘airtime’ and the vendor issues waragi from tthere. A sachet costs sh500.
Various taxi touts told Saturday Vision that because of the sale of waragi sachets, a number of them operate under the influence of alcohol. To disguise the smell, they chew gum.
The Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers’ Association (UTODA) chairman John Ndyomugyenyi says they do not encourage such practices and appeals to the public to report any driver found drinking on duty to their offices or the Police.
Since there is no law against selling waragi sachets, the Police concentrate on nabbing those found drink-driving. “We get many drunk drivers, especially at night,†Geoffrey Aropet, the Police commissioner for traffic and road safety. “But if we suspect that a driver is drunk during the day, we also subject them to a breathalyser test.â€
The KCC town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu, says the sale of waragi on the streets is illegal, adding that vendors involved in the business risk imprisonment.
Dr. David Basangwa, a psychiatrist at Butabika Hospital, points out that the sale of waragi in sachets is problematic because it is difficult to regulate. Whereas pub owners can be barred from selling alcohol to the under-18s, street vendors can get away with it, says the psychiatrist.
There are more than 30 brands on the market, most of which are not approved by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics. The brands that Saturday Vision saw on the streets were Uganda Waragi, Royal Vodka, Coffee Spirit, Liberty, Knockout gin, Beckam Gin, Zed pineapple waragi, Mapenzi gin, Rwenzori gin, Banana gin, Afande gin, Man. U gin, Arsenal Gin. Some did not have names although they are packed.
However, a Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) official, Deus Mubangizi, says apart from Uganda Waragi, Royal Vodka, Coffee Spirit, Liberty and Knockout gins, the rest were not registered with the body.
He appealed to Police to arrest and close down any distillers found operating without a UNBS license. “If any authorities get them, they should be closed because they pose a risk to lives of the public.â€
He revealed that some people add methylated spirit to the waragi to make it potent yet it is dangerous to humans.
In February 2007, over 40 people died in Kampala and other districts after drinking toxic waragi packed in polythene sachets of 25ml and 30ml and sold for sh100. The waragi had a lot of methanol, the health ministry announced.
According to the vendors, most of this waragi is packed in people’s backyards in Kampala. The packaging material is easily available in Kampala. Are city authorities waiting for more deaths before curbing the sale of waragi sachets? Only time will tell.
Contested clauses
Rogers Kasirye of the Uganda Youth development Link says the following clauses from the draft are inappropriate: Â
This National Alcohol Policy (NAP) recognises the role alcohol plays both in terms of its social and economic contribution.
This NAP is based on the recognition that Ugandans wish to live in a society in which alcohol is available for adults who choose to drink in a responsible manner.
The alcohol industry plays a significant role in the economy of Uganda, generating substantial employment, retail activity and providing considerable tax revenue, which assists the government to establish wide ranging social services for the society
Numerous medical studies have determined that consumption of alcohol can have varying health effects including both short- and long-term effects and both positive and negative. When consumed at low levels, there is evidence that alcohol can provide health benefits for certain age and gender groups. The physical benefits include reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease from middle age onwards.
The social benefits include assisting in relaxation, enhancing social interactions, and contributing to traditions and cultural festivities.
IT is Friday evening and Wandegeya, a city suburb, has come to life. Along the streets, vendors, who sell sweets and cigarettes are also supplying waragi in 100ml sachets. Seven young men, some with trousers hanging loosely on their buttocks, buy a few sachets, pocket them and walk off to Ground Zero, a pub nearby.
I catch up with one of them, who calls himself Steve, a student. “I don’t ‘feel’ the beer and it is expensive, so we take waragi and top up with one beer,†he says.
To get drunk with beer, he needs seven bottles at sh14,000, which is too costly. So he goes into the pub with a few sachets of waragi to get drunk with fewer bottles of beer.
Back to the streets, I take a closer look at the vendors’ merchandise. He has stocked a few brands of waragi, including names I had never seen.In the city centre, the story is no different. During the day, the vendors sell stuff like sweets and cigarettes.
When the sun goes down they add waragi sachets to their merchandise. Their biggest customers are students, taxi drivers and touts. Sometimes the sachets are only pulled out at a customer’s request.
According to Saturday Vision’s investigations, girls smuggle waragi into schools by stuffing it into empty packets of sanitary towels. Soccer fans smuggle it into stadiums in their socks.
Around the Kampala old taxi park, there are vendors who hawk waragi in khaki envelopes. A customer asks for ‘airtime’ and the vendor issues waragi from tthere. A sachet costs sh500.
Various taxi touts told Saturday Vision that because of the sale of waragi sachets, a number of them operate under the influence of alcohol. To disguise the smell, they chew gum.
The Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers’ Association (UTODA) chairman John Ndyomugyenyi says they do not encourage such practices and appeals to the public to report any driver found drinking on duty to their offices or the Police.
Since there is no law against selling waragi sachets, the Police concentrate on nabbing those found drink-driving. “We get many drunk drivers, especially at night,†Geoffrey Aropet, the Police commissioner for traffic and road safety. “But if we suspect that a driver is drunk during the day, we also subject them to a breathalyser test.â€
The KCC town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu, says the sale of waragi on the streets is illegal, adding that vendors involved in the business risk imprisonment.
Dr. David Basangwa, a psychiatrist at Butabika Hospital, points out that the sale of waragi in sachets is problematic because it is difficult to regulate. Whereas pub owners can be barred from selling alcohol to the under-18s, street vendors can get away with it, says the psychiatrist.
There are more than 30 brands on the market, most of which are not approved by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics. The brands that Saturday Vision saw on the streets were Uganda Waragi, Royal Vodka, Coffee Spirit, Liberty, Knockout gin, Beckam Gin, Zed pineapple waragi, Mapenzi gin, Rwenzori gin, Banana gin, Afande gin, Man. U gin, Arsenal Gin. Some did not have names although they are packed.
However, a Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) official, Deus Mubangizi, says apart from Uganda Waragi, Royal Vodka, Coffee Spirit, Liberty and Knockout gins, the rest were not registered with the body.
He appealed to Police to arrest and close down any distillers found operating without a UNBS license. “If any authorities get them, they should be closed because they pose a risk to lives of the public.â€
He revealed that some people add methylated spirit to the waragi to make it potent yet it is dangerous to humans.
In February 2007, over 40 people died in Kampala and other districts after drinking toxic waragi packed in polythene sachets of 25ml and 30ml and sold for sh100. The waragi had a lot of methanol, the health ministry announced.
According to the vendors, most of this waragi is packed in people’s backyards in Kampala. The packaging material is easily available in Kampala. Are city authorities waiting for more deaths before curbing the sale of waragi sachets? Only time will tell.
Contested clauses
Rogers Kasirye of the Uganda Youth development Link says the following clauses from the draft are inappropriate: Â