Parliament has granted leave to Sarah Opendi (pictured), the Tororo District Woman to draft a bill regulating consumption of alcohol.
Speaker Anita Among gave the nod for the enactment of the Alcohol Control Bill, saying the failure to regulate the consumption of alcohol in Uganda, has left a number of men failing to perform well in bed.
“It is a fact that when people drink, they abandon families, it is also a fact that when you men drink, you fail to perform,” said Among.
Her remarks were in response to a concern raised by Medard Sseggona (Busiro East) who criticised the supporters of the Alcohol Control Bill for sexualizing the legislation, after they alluded to men battling alcoholism abandoning their children and wives, arguing that even wives battle alcoholism and therefore, the vice shouldn’t be sexualized.
Sseggona’s protest followed remarks made by Rose Obiga (DWR Terego) who backed the legislation to regulate the consumption, manufacture and sale of alcohol arguing that the high dependency on alcohol has increased domestic violence in homes and seen men abandon their families to quench their thirst.
“Many heavy alcohol consumers do not take care of their families. It is a major source of domestic violence, failure to pay school fees and take care of their children and wives. We aren’t saying no one should consume alcohol, we are only saying can you regulate it, can you take a certain percentage?” remarked Obiga.
Sarah Opendi (DWR Tororo) mover of the bill defended the enactment of the legislation arguing that as a result of passage of time and the changing circumstances, the current legislation regulating the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks, like; The Liquor Act Cap. 93, The Portable Spirits Act Cap. 97 and the Enguli (Manufacturing and Licensing Act Cap. 86 we all enacted in the 1960’s and have become obsolete and do not address the current circumstances caused by the excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks.
Opendi remarked, “The current legislations have their weaknesses and we need stringent measures or penalties to control the consumption of alcohol and also its production in the country. We aren’t stopping people from drinking, all we are saying regulating, the sale, production. There must be hours that people can’t drink from morning.”
In the proposed legislation, Opendi is seeking to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcohol without a license and proposed to have anyone found flouting this provision to face a fine of 500 currency points equivalent to Shs10M or imprisonment not exceeding 5years or both.
Opendi is also seeking to impose a timeline within which alcohol consumers are in position to consume their drink, by having the sell not take place before mid day and beyond 6Pm, however this provision wouldn’t be applied to supermarkets, mobile vans, deports, wholesale shops. She proposed a fine of Shs20M or imprisonment for ten years.
The lawmaker is seeking to bar sale of alcohol inside passenger vehicles, sale to law enforcement officers, persons below 18years and any contravention of the said laws attracting monetary fines and jail sentences ranging between 3-10years.
There were attempts by Deputy Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi to thwart ploy by Parliament to grant Opendi to table a private member’s bill on grounds that it would impose a charge on the consolidated fund, but his efforts were quashed by the Speaker who put the question to vote and MPs agreed to grant Opendi leave to officially table a private member’s bill.
