Excessive daytime alcohol consumption in Kalungu District has triggered concerns among local leaders, who warn that the growing culture of drinking during working hours is fuelling poor parenting, declining productivity and moral decay.
District Chairperson Ahamada Nyombi Mukiibi is now pushing for a district-wide bylaw to regulate alcohol consumption, including banning drinking during working hours and imposing penalties on habitual offenders.
Speaking at a community meeting in Lugalama Village, Bukulula Sub-county, Mukiibi said irresponsible alcohol consumption has become one of the biggest obstacles to proper child upbringing and household economic progress in many parts of the district.
He said his monitoring visits across Kalungu have revealed an alarming increase in alcoholism among parents and young people, many of whom spend productive hours drinking instead of working, while exposing children to irresponsible behaviour. According to Mukiibi, the trend is eroding societal values, with drunken individuals frequently engaging in public disorder and using obscene language in the presence of children.
“It is unacceptable that people can continue to abuse alcohol and leaders are just looking and cheering them on. We are putting the generations ahead of us at stake if we do not rise to regulate the way our people should drink alcohol,” he said.
To address the problem, Mukiibi wants leaders from all the district’s eight sub-counties to enact a uniform bylaw prohibiting alcohol consumption during working hours. He also proposes heavy fines for people whose drunken behaviour becomes a public nuisance, particularly in the presence of children.
He argues that regulating alcohol consumption would help restore discipline, improve productivity and protect young people from negative influences.
Mukiibi also expressed concern that alcoholism is increasingly affecting the education sector, alleging that some teachers in government schools, particularly in rural areas, report to work while intoxicated, a practice he says is undermining learning outcomes. He urged local leaders and community members to report teachers found teaching under the influence of alcohol to the relevant education authorities for disciplinary action.
Bukulula Sub-county Chairperson Hassan Bazadde Kaweesa acknowledged that alcoholism has become widespread across the area and agreed that stronger regulation is needed to protect communities.
Kaweesa said local leaders have previously attempted to discourage excessive alcohol consumption, but enforcement has remained weak because there has been no coordinated legal framework to support their efforts.
The renewed call for regulation comes amid a longstanding national debate over Uganda’s outdated alcohol laws. For years, health experts, religious leaders and civil society organisations have called for stricter controls on harmful alcohol consumption, citing its links to domestic violence, road crashes, poor health and lost productivity.
Parliament has on several occasions attempted to reform the country’s alcohol legislation without success. The most recent effort came in 2022 when Tororo District Woman MP Sarah Achieng Opendi tabled the Alcohol Control Bill, seeking to repeal and replace colonial-era laws, including the Liquor Act, the Portable Spirits Act and the Enguli (Manufacturing and Licensing) Act, all enacted in the 1960s.
The proposed law sought to introduce tougher measures on alcohol advertising, sales and consumption, but it has yet to be passed-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
