MPs Question Continued Beer Production while Bars Remain closed over Covid-19

Members of Parliament who sit on the Committee on National Economy have questioned why the bars remain closed when the companies manufacturing beer and other alcoholic drinks continue to be in production.

The MPs believe that the bars which are supposed to be closed as one of the measures of stopping the spread of Covid-19 should not continue suffering when the production of alcohol has not stopped.

During the committee meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Health yesterday, the MP for Kaberamaido County Veronica Isala Bichetero wondered where the beer being transported on the roads across the whole country ends up when the bars are closed.  

Bichetero suggested that it is a contradiction in the enforcement of the Covid-19 prevention guidelines put in place by the Ministry of Health because the continued production of alcoholic drinks tempts the bar owners to open.

“You are talking to a very few fraction of people, those of us who can listen to you talk in English. In my area, these people we go to are drinking, they are having bars which are operational,” Ms Bichetero said.

She added that; “I can probably talk to the Government, but what is the Government doing? You get heavy trucks of beer being transported from Kampala to Jinja, so we are selling to our people to kill them. Can we for the meantime stop the sale of alcohol?”

Led by Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Ministry of Health Officials were in parliament to defend the request for UGX45.057b loan to facilitate the Covid-19 fighting related activities. The loan is being sought from the World Bank.

In her response, Minister Aceng said government does not have the responsibility to stop manufacturing industries which are a source of revenue.

She also said that the World Health Organisation still recommends drinking alcohol in a moderate way.

The Minister said that there is information that the people buy alcohol and take it to their homes where those enforcing the Standard Operating Procedures cannot reach to assess whether their drinking is moderate or not.

“We can’t stop businesses that bring revenue because we need to open up the economy to bring revenue. The advice from the World Health Organisation is that taking alcohol in moderation is okay. It is only excessive drinking that is harmful to one’s health. So if people are buying and taking to their homes to drink, that is okay. As long as they don’t get drunk in places where there is mass gathering and they talk without masks.” Dr Aceng told the MPs.

Despite President Yoweri Museveni insisting that the bars remain closed until at least 5m Ugandans are vaccinated against Covid-19, the government is proposing a tax of UGX230 on each liter of beer produced in the next financial year.

This is among the taxes that are being considered by the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development together with other tax measures tabled on April 1 by Finance Minister Matia Kasaija.

In 2019, top alcohol companies paid taxes to a tune of UGX700Bn with Nile Breweries paying UGX327Bn and Uganda Breweries UGX304Bn.

Ruhinda North MP Thomas Tayebwa asked the Ministry to explain if there are guidelines the Government can come up with to allow the closed businesses like bars and entertainment places to open to enable dependents to obtain any income.

However, Minister Aceng said they held a meeting with bar owners and beer manufacturers in which the stakeholders agreed that it would not be easy to enforce SOPs because of the behaviours involved.

Dr Aceng warned that the country is bracing for a second wave of Covid-19 infections and opening bars would cause a major setback in the plans to combat the disease.

 “It would be a great mistake for us to go and open bars as if we are blind. We sat with bar owners, we even had demonstrations on SOPs, but it can’t work because the moment someone puts alcohol in the head, the thinking is different,” Dr Aceng added.

The issue of re-opening of bars notwithstanding, the Committee chaired by Nakaseke North MP Syda Bbumba will continue considering the load which Uganda will pay back in 38 years at an interest of 1 percent.

The Ministry officials revealed that they plan to use the money to procure equipment to be used for early case detection, refurbishing isolation facilities, and improving water and sanitation.