Musicians and comedians have invited parliament to reject the Alcoholic drinks control bill, 2023 saying the proposal to limit the time for sale of alcohol will frustrate the Night Economy.
They made submissions while appearing before parliamentary committees that are considering the bill to regulate the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol.
As the parliamentary committees of Health and trade continue to jointly scrutinize the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill, 2023, today they interfaced with artists under the National Culture Forum-NCF who registered their strong reservations on the bill as Charles Batambuze the vice chairperson of NCF submits.
Artistes led by Daniel Kazibwe alias Raga Dee rejected the clause in the bill that proposes a time limit to the sale of alcohol, saying it’s dangerous to the night economy on which the entertainment industry thrives.
In clause 14 of the Bill, Sarah Opendi the mover of the Bill proposes to regulate the time within which alcoholic drinks are sold in Uganda by limiting it to only 5 hours during weekdays and 12 hours during weekends. The bill proposes a fine of 20 million shillings or imprisonment for 10 years or both for those convicted of selling alcohol beyond 10 pm.
Artists argued that the Alcohol Drinks Control Bill 2023 is nugatory in a country riddled with serious human capital problems and asked parliament to reject it.
They urged the government to shift attention to illicit alcohol that is not regulated by the government, arguing that it’s the source of all health problems blamed on Alcohol.
They also registered fears with the proposal to regulate the advertisement of alcoholic drinks, saying the law threatens artists whose works may be misinterpreted as deceptive.
Their submissions were reinforced by the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda which told the committee that alcohol is a source of employment for over 1.3m Ugandans who are threatened by the law.
