The retired Bishop of Kitgum diocese McLeod Baker Ochola has decried the level of alcoholism among the young in Acholi society as Acholi struggle to emerge to the damage caused by the two decade conflict which cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and saw people forcefully driven from their homes into camps where up to 1000 people were dying per week.

 

Speaking in Gulu town last Monday, Bishop Ochola said that “out of frustration, the youth have resorted to drinking instead of fighting for their livelihood and working their way out of this imposed economic destruction.

 

Rtd. Bishop Ochola called on the youth in northern Uganda to embrace agriculture as one way of addressing the rising level of unemployment in the region instead of indulging in alcohol abuse all the time.

 

The retired bishop appealed youth that they should borrow a leaf from the Arabs whose land is desert but they also embark on farming as a way forward.

 

Bishop Ochola advised the youth to exploit the natural resources like land to address their plight and not wait on government to offer jobs, because they will wait forever.

 

Religious leaders in the Acholi sub region have been demanding that Local governments pass a By-Law that may restrict the consumption of waragi which is considered unsafe if left unregulated.

 

Last year, a ban was imposed after more than 35 residents of Gulu and Kitgum districts district were reported dead after consuming poisonous waragi.

 

They were reported to have consumed crude waragi adulterated with ethanol by the traders to maximize profit.

 

Police also confiscated over 100 Jerry cans of crude waragi from Kaunda ground in Gulu, Kitgum and Amuru districts.

 

In December last year, the district security committee for Gulu partially relaxed the ban imposed on sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks in the district.

 

The move came after Uganda National Bureau of Standards requested the office to allow manufactures with permits to continue with their businesses.

 

However the Chairman of the committee the late Walter Ochora quickly pointed out that the new development does not affect the ban imposed on the sale and consumption of crude waragi which was code named “killer waragi.”

 

The UNBS claimed that test results from the government chemist cleared some of these liquors safe for public consumption.