Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) has warned Parliament that enacting the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023 in its current form will likely crash Uganda’s economy, Allan Ssenyondwa, Director of Policy Research and Advocacy at UMA told Parliament.

Ssenyondwa said the manufacturers believe that the Bill is targeting the formal sector, leaving the informal sector to produce illicit alcohol which is detrimental to the health of consumers.

“The country is highly informal in nature and because of its informality, there is a high illicit trade, therefore whatever we try to do in this country, we must ensure that we can legislate for both the informal & formal sector,” he said.

“Touch alcohol and this whole sector and you won’t have enough money to appropriate in this Parliament. Don’t place undue burden on businesses or stifle the ability to innovate and grow,” Ssenyondwa added.

Ssenyondwa and a team from UMA made the remarks while appearing before the Joint Parliament’s Committee of Health and Trade to present their views on the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023 that was tabled by Sarah Opendi, the District Woman MP for Tororo district. 

The Executive Director of UMA, Ezra Muhumuza, dared MPs to take the anti-alcohol campaign back to their constituencies and see what impact it will have on their political careers.

Muhumuza argued that alcohol has been part of Uganda’s social fabric and efforts should rather be focused on the bahavioural aspect of alcohol abuse, instead of resorting to a new law.

“We, as manufacturers, we ought to see what happens with the advanced effects of consuming alcohol. We think excess consumption of anything has got adverse effects. We think that instead of extending a law, to look into behaviour and adverse effects, we would rather see how we can work with the government and reduce this.

I want to believe that all these MPs appreciate that alcohol is a social fabric in our society. If you want to give it a try, try in your next campaign and say, I am not coming to a rally where there is alcohol. We will meet in this committee with results,” said Muhumuza.

The Association also rejected the provision in clause 5(5) of the bill that imposes a pre-requisite for the grant of license to business premises only situated 400 metres away from any school, a health facility, a residential area, place of worship describing the provision as impractical and an attempt to push Uganda into communism.

“Last time I checked, the Constitution said, we are a liberal economy, so now we are moving away from liberalism and going to communism. Considering Uganda’s physical layout which places social amenities close to one another, this provision is impractical, the bill shouldn’t attempt to impose unforeseeable requirements.

By confining operations to a restricted radius, companies may face challenges in recruiting, and retaining qualified employees leading to potential skills shortages and decreased productivity,” said Ssenyondwa.