Malwa survives onslaught of modern beer

By Titus Kakembo                                                 

When a local asks for beer, he or she is guided to a pub, a bar or a trendy joint serving bottled lagers and spirits. But there is a frothy beverage that has withstood the test of time – and tastes – on the local scene.

It is consumed under tree shades, in the comfort of a home or at the market place. Consumers in different parts of the country have different names for it: Ajon (Teso), Malwa (Buganda) or Amarwa (Western).

It has also slowly but surely slid into the jargon department: Malos, some prefer to call it.

“You should see patrons converge at 5.00pm (local time),” says Agripina Akello, a bar attendant at Small Gate Bar in Luzira, a suburb of Kampala.

“They come in gently. But with every sip sucked, they get friendlier and loosen their neckties. Some eventually fall to the temptation of getting on their feet and dancing away on the available space.

“The beer also triggers their tongues to talk,” adds Akello.

She is right. I learn that many a lonely heart have met their lifetime spouses around the pot.
 

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A function in Teso is incomplete without a pot of Ajon. This was in Brooks Corner, Serere. (Credit: Photo by Titus Kakembo)

Consequently, there are children and lasting relationships owing their existence to the pocket-friendly Malwa binges that go for as low as sh2000 for a sitting. This is quite a better bargain for a patron who could have parted with as much sh10,000 for some three beers in your average bar.

“Besides giving men guts, a girl you would never give a second glance at under normal circumstances looks prettier by every sip,” laughs John Opus, a regular at Police Gate Bar in Kitintale.

“Even shy men mysteriously open up after guzzling it. Many are even able to dance the youthful ‘bend-over’ stroke after taking a generous portion,” he adds.

‘Like family’

The Ajon beverage is not only pocket friendly but socially binding. Consumers have even formed and named groups as: ‘MTN’ in Soroti town, ‘Mango’ in Jinja, ‘New Windows’ in Bogolobi and ‘Small Gate’ in Luzira.

In these groups are members who spend public holidays around a pot sipping and playing popular leisurely games like scrabble, darts, pool, Omweso (local board game) or cards. The lot are often inseparable – be it in times of sorrow or joy.

In fact, political contenders often reach the electorate by sponsoring a sitting in established groups.
 

Millet beer (Ajon/Malwa) is in a stiff competition for consumers with bottle beverages and spirits. (Credit: Titus Kakembo)

The chairman of any Malwa-drinking group always enjoys celebrity status among his peers. He keeps records and collects the day’s sitting payments and orders the bar girl to refill or deliver a bigger pot. Groups are made up of a mixture of age groups and profession.

“Our group is like family,” says Claus Segujja in Kitooro, Entebbe.

“We are there for each other in times of sorrow or joy. When one’s family member graduates, weds or dies, we are there to feast or weep.”

Thanks to this popular brew, theirs is a close-knit connection that sees even group members share their marital problems during the sittings and receive counseling from groupmates.

Meanwhile, by coincidence, all these groups are near police barracks in the different towns and on weekly market days called Okison (corrupted from the English word ‘auction’) in the east and Akatale in central Uganda.

So why mostly near police barracks? Post-colonial era in Uganda, the armed forces were dominated by the Iteso who are known as the best brewers of Ajon in the country.

Among the Iteso, the birth of a baby was always celebrated by consuming and dancing to thumb piano (Akogo) music. The baby’s forehead was smeared with Ajon as a symbol of initiation into the tribe. Today, this practice is a preserve of only the conservative Iteso. With modern-day education and exposure, many feel it is archaic.

Today in the Ugandan society, a marriage, funeral or baptism is incomplete without a pot of Ajon/Malwa.

Job Opolot, a journalist with Etop – an Ateso weekly newspaper – says traditionally, a day in Teso used to begin with a calabash of Ajon.

“It was the foundation for a rough and tough day ahead of you,” he Opolot.

“But in modern times it is used for relaxing. Around a beer pot you can feel the political, social and economic pulse of a community. I often get story ideas there.”

Any time is Ajon time!

Ajon/Malwa has certainly stood the test of time

Not always a pot-and-straw affair: Some Malwa lovers, like this woman, prefer to drink the brew direct from a  calabash
 

July 23, 2011: Mt. Masaba High School students acting a play on how some politicians convince voters by buying them alcohol (Malwa) during campaigns

The year was 2011: Fred Opolot, then NRM flagbearer for Kasilo joins potential voters in drinking Ajon

2008: Residents of Kalon in Kumi enjoy the popular brew

2011: Youth drinking Ajon at Ibongoso trading centre in Soroti district