Uganda: No Alcohol After Midnight – New Bill

Allafrica

By Isaac Imaka

September 9, 2016

The sale or consumption of alcohol before 5pm or after 1am will become criminal in Uganda, and violators risk a Shs2m fine or one-year jail term or both, according to penalties in draft alcohol regulation legislation.

The proposed law, titled the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2016, aims to consolidate all alcoholic-related laws and set tougher sanctions on alcohol consumption by, among others, creating national, district, and sub-county licencing and regulation committees.

It provides that a retailer cannot sue to recover any debt extended willingly to a consumer of alcohol unless the alcohol is served to a resident hotel, inn or lodge guest. This means that bar owners would incur losses unless patrons pay up before leaving the service point.

A group of lawmakers led by Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze (DP), who are originators of the Bill, want individuals who sell alcoholic beverages to children jailed.

The Bill provides that “the sale of alcohol shall also not be to persons under the age of 18 and, therefore, an offence for a person to purchase an alcoholic drink for another person he or she knows or has reason to believe is below eighteen years of age or to allow an underage person to access premises where alcoholic beverages are stored, sold or consumed. The punishment will be 10 years in prison or Shs20m or both.”