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Police officer dies after a three-day gin drinking spree
LIRA- A police officer has died after reportedly spending three consecutive days drinking a local gin (waragi) on an empty stomach.
Detective Assistant Inspector of Police D/AIP Paul Egeru was attached to the Crime Investigations Department at Lira Central Police Station.
North Kyoga Regional Police Spokesman, ASP David Ongom Mudong said on Monday that the landlady whose house the deceased was renting, at Adekokwok in Central Division, Lira Municipality,
told him that her client was a habitual drunkard.
“She told us that for three days he had not been going for work. That he spent the days at his home drinking waragi non-stop. On the third day, while inside the house, he started shouting like a mad person,” he said. “And when she went to find out what was happening to her tenant; she found him almost dying and she called a nurse who arrived when the police officer was already dead.”
He said Egeru, 48, had been living alone since his family members stay in the village in Soroti District. “A post-mortem report indicates that he died of respiratory failure due to depressed lungs,” Mr Ongom said.
He said Mr Egeru the autopsy report also indicates that his liver was also damaged.
Mr Ongom cautioned police officers to avoid excessive consumption of alcohol.
“How will members of the public react when we arrest them for drink driving, yet our officers are heavy drinkers,” he said.
Uganda is the highest consumer of alcohol per capita in the East African region, according to a 2014 report.
Ugandans according to the report, consume the unregulated type of alcohol classified as “others”. The regulated market bears alcohol types namely beer, spirits and wine.
The Global Status on Alcohol and Health 2014 indicates that 23.7 litres of pure alcohol are consumed per capita by drinkers annually in Uganda. Rwanda and Burundi follow, each registering 22.0 litres per capita per year.
Kenyans follow with a registered 18.9 litres of alcohol consumed per capita while Tanzania consumes only 18.4 litres per capita.
The report that looks at alcohol consumption by people aged 15 and above, carries research findings of 2010 and 2012 and it includes profiles of each country across all continents.
At least 89 per cent of the alcohol consumed in Uganda is unregulated, home brewed and illegally sold, according to the report.
Beer consumption is still at a paltry nine per cent while spirits and wine consumers make up a tiny margin of the total alcohol consumed in the country.
The bulk of alcohol consumed in Uganda is local brew which explains why the alcohol manufactures may find it hard to agree with the research findings.
