How potent waragi is devastating Northern Uganda

Acen, whose first name we have withheld, runs a local hangout joint in Bardege-Layibi Division, Gulu City. 90 percent of the alcoholic products on display are a potent gin, while the rest are Lujutu, a local brew distilled from cassava.

“I have been dealing with this drink (waragi) for more than two years now. Some call it Kasese-Kasese, while others call it Ka-deng-ci-deng (loosely translated as; even if it will make me swell to death, so be it),” Acen says. 

A 20-litre jerry can of the drink, whose official name we have withheld, costs Shs70,000 on the market, while one containing local brew, known as lujutu in Acholi, costs about Shs150,000. According to Acen, the waragi, shipped from the Bunyoro and Lango sub-regions, is sold in two versions; concentrated and diluted. 

 “I buy the concentrated version, which is very strong. My customers do not like it, saying it can burn their liver. So, I dilute most of it. I only sell the concentrated version to customers who are fat or overweight to help them burn the excess fat,” Acen adds. 

Questionable ingredients

On a table next to her stands several plastic and glass bottles filled with the potent gin in different measurements. Her clients prefer the drink because it is affordable and gives them a quick high. 

“Other drinks such as Lira-Lira are strong, expensive, and give you a terrible hangover, while Lujutu is too mild. That is why for the last three years, I have only consumed KK,” says Richard Sunday, a client we found in the hangout joint. 

On average, Acen’s clients go through 40 jerry cans of KK waragi in 10 days, while in peak season, those jerry cans can be consumed in two days. She notes that a 200ml bottle of KK, which costs Shs500, gives the same intoxication as seven bottles of Nile beer. 

“The last time city authorities examined the diluted drink taken from my shop, it had an alcoholic content level of 40 percent, while the concentrated one was 65 percent alcohol,” she says. 

Rita Acam, a resident of the Starch Factory Cell in Lira City processes the potent gin, which she ships to the Karamoja and Acholi sub-regions. She says trading in the product is a risky venture. 

“If the authorities confiscate the consignment, they pour out the drink and then burn the jerrycans. Sometimes, the transporter is arrested and spends weeks in jail. For my stock to reach Kitgum or Pader districts, transporters have to bribe security,” she says. 

In the Karamoja sub-region, where the crackdown is more serious, Acam says her shipment of alcohol is transported through the black market. 

“There are five different checkpoints on the road to Kotido, manned by Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) soldiers, the police, and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU). They check every vehicle for alcohol and if any is found, it is immediately confiscated. We use the shortcuts where the security forces do not deploy,” Acam explains. 

Asked about the content of the drink, the brewer says she adds sugar and liquid yeast to molasses, before letting the mixture ferment for a week. Then, she distills it. 

Lack of regulations

The renewed consumption of unregulated potent alcohol in the Acholi sub-region comes after a 14-year hiatus when more than 25 people died after consuming adulterated alcohol that was later found to be laced with methanol.

Selling for as low as Shs500, anyone, including school children, can walk into a bar and order a bottle of KK. 

Dr Kenneth Cana, the Gulu District health officer, says the lack of political will and necessary laws to fight the consumption of illicit brew is fueling alcohol-related illnesses and poverty in the community. 

“Since it is a drug, alcohol damages the body. Today, we have many cases of complications such as loss of vision, erectile dysfunction, and alcohol poisoning. If not managed quickly and properly, it will become the commonest cause of death in the district,” he says. 

District statistics (2018) placed average alcohol consumption at 14.2 litres per person per annum, surpassing the national average of 12.2 litres per person per year. 

These statistics are a cause for worry. Dr Cana says the risks of pregnant women, who consume alcohol, producing children with defects are very high. 

“There are many abnormalities a child can get when the mother takes alcohol, such as diabetes, nutrition deficiencies, development disorders, and cognitive function reduction,” he says, adding, “If this potent alcohol is unregulated, we cannot know its quality, because it is produced illegally.” 

He acknowledges that the technical authorities in the health department are aware of KK waragi, and its associated dangers now being manifested in the community. Data from the department shows that an average of 10 in every 100 consumers develop liver-related cancers while four percent develop gastrointestinal cancers. 

In Nwoya District, the consumption of KK has turned into a huge social burden, where children are forced to drink it during last funeral rites ceremonies and other social gatherings.

Christopher Omara, the Resident District Commissioner, says overconsumption of the potent drink has come at a severe cost, naming four murder incidences where the suspects and victims were under the influence. 

“There are social gatherings that go on from morning to morning in almost every trading centre across the district. People are consuming this drink without questioning its quality. I blame this on the weak administrative systems in the Acholi sub-region,” he says. 

David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West regional police spokesperson, acknowledges the increasing sale and consumption of illicit drinks but also blames the trend on the lack of political will. 

“If you visit those drinking joints where KK is sold, you will find that they all have city council seals and receipts. This means that the city collects revenue from them even when authorities are aware that they are dealing with illicit alcohol. This makes it very tricky for the police to act,” he says. 

Ongom adds that if the police decide to act against the traders, the officers can be sued. 

“The operations against the sale and consumption of KK in the Karamoja (sub-region) are due to an escalation of armed raids. Research showed that warriors got the confidence to go rustling under the influence of alcohol. They were found with jerry cans of the brew,” he says. 

This publication established that the Psychiatric Unit of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital manages between 600 and 800 in and outpatients every month with alcoholism constituting the biggest fraction. 

Across the border in South Sudan, this potent drink is called ‘gur.’ Last year, the government of South Sudan threatened to let loose armed cattle rustlers into Ugandan territories after it claimed authorities in Uganda have failed to block the production and sale of the deadly waragi. 

Timon Loboi Lolori, the commissioner of Ikwoto County, said at the time that thousands of South Sudanese had died due to the consumption of the product. 

“The productivity of our young people has been severely hampered by alcoholism. The alcohol being sold in Agoro and Madiopei is causing people to commit atrocities while under the influence. Since it came onto the market during the war, the suicide, attacks and murder are in the thousands,” he said.

The remedies

In November 2016, Gulu District launched the Alcoholic Control Ordinance that sought to regulate the operating hours of bars, the packaging of alcoholic drinks and the licensing of drinking places. 

The ordinance stipulates that those seeking to sell alcoholic drinks must ensure that their business premises are located more than half a kilometre from educational institutions and all packaging must be in breakable bottles as opposed to sachets. 

If implemented, this means all bars will open at 5pm and close at 1am. However, the ordinance only forced the producers of sachet waragi to switch the packaging to plastic bottles. 

The Uganda Alcohol Report 2022 estimates that the government loses approximately Shs616b in revenues since more than 65 percent of the alcohol consumed in the country is illicit and unregulated. The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) does not monitor informal alcohol. 

An estimated 12.21 million alcohol drinkers in the country consume upwards of 110.6 million litres annually. 

According to Euromonitor, a report commissioned by Nile Breweries Company to assess the market size of alcohol beverages in Uganda, of the 110.6 litres of alcohol consumed, 67.7 million are from the illicit alcohol sector, accounting for 52 percent of the alcohol beverage market share. 

Target 3.5 of the sustainable development goals aim to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol. 

Recently, Margaret Muhanga, the state minister for Primary Health Care, informed Parliament that the country spends more than Shs2.654t annually on treating alcohol-related diseases. 

To fight the vice of alcoholism, in August 2023, Sarah Opendi, the Woman Member of Parliament for Tororo district tabled before Parliament the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023. 

Although the bill was quashed last month, it proposed that all licensed businesses selling alcoholic drinks should operate between 5pm and 10pm working days and from 12pm to 12 am-noon on public holidays and weekends. 

The bill proposed a jail term of 10 years for anyone found selling alcohol past legal time or paying a fine of Shs20m.