When African brewers ferment death

But unlicensed production of waragi, also called “regular” or “crude” continues under names such as the cassava-derived lira-lira and kasese, a potent banana gin. Both are named after the towns where they’re brewed.

The government is set to act and replace it with a broader law to regulate, develop and promote the beer industry. The new policy will form the basis for replacing the 1965 Enguli Act.

The Deputy Executive Director Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), Mr Mackay Aomu, says the bureau is carrying out scientific tests on the liquor impounded by the Kabale district security and health teams in an ongoing crack down on the killer drink.

According to a report, the samples collected from Kabale have levels of methanol of between 170-300 more times the allowable limit. The maximum allowable level of methanol in waragi is 0.05 per cent M/V.
“We are on the ground and initial results show that the alcohol was contaminated,” Mr Aomu said. The Ministry of Trade and Industry is working to establish a national spirits consumption policy to regulate and manage consumption.

Tougher legislation
Kenya on the other hand passed a by-law making it illegal to sell or consume chang’aa. A bill aimed at controlling alcohol advertising has also been tabled in the Kenyan Parliament.

The WHO reports that regulating illicit brews totters off the intended path because many African countries have a myriad political, economic and health crises, and controlling killer brews is not a priority. Critics have argued that this is because of the high revenue that alcohol companies remit to the government.

In Uganda, the beverage industry is one of the biggest contributors of revenue with beer companies having contributed Shs168.7 billion last financial year.

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Africa Insight is an initiative of the Nation Media Group’s Africa Media Network Project.