Africa-Press – Uganda. The government of South Sudan has warned that it will not ignore armed cattle rustlers inside its country and let them continue to attack and raid livestock should Ugandan authorities fail to block the production and sale of a highly potent waragi “gur” to South Sudan.
They said most atrocities are committed under the influence of alcohol.
In a closed-door security meeting held at Ikwoto County headquarters on Friday, Mr Timon Loboi Lolori, the Commissioner of Ikwoto County, said while thousands of South Sudanese have died due to the consumption of the product, the productivity of young people has also been severely hampered by alcoholism.
In a later interview, he implored the Ugandan authorities to urgently derive means to curtail the production and trade in the gin from the Ugandan side since it is the reason for all the rampant killings and ambushing of people on the roads.
“The alcohol being sold in Agoro and Madiopei has turned out to be very dangerous for our people. You know most of the atrocities and killings have been done because of the influence of this alcohol including the rampant killings and ambushing people on the roads,” he said.
“lt is because of the alcohol being sold to the people that has created a very big harm to my community. Since this alcohol came to the market during the war, right now when you calculate the number of suicide cases, murders, and attacks, among others, they are already in thousands. It is the youth mostly consuming it yet they are the active and productive members of our society here,” Mr Loboi added.
Ministerial directive
Mr Nicholas Odwar, an official with the South Sudan Relief Rehabilitation Programme, said a ministerial directive to all the commissioners to ban the consumption of the gin had yielded little fruit since Ugandan authorities have allowed the trade to continue through their borders.
“South Sudan government gave instructions to the commissioners of the different states to share the instruction with the district commissioners on the Ugandan side that they must stop the sale of the alcohol,” he said.
Mr Geoffrey Osborn Oceng, the Lamwo District Resident District Commissioner, said whereas they are aware of the problem and concerns of the South Sudanese leaders, they are stuck since Uganda lacks proper legal structures to control locally brewed alcohol.
“We haven’t controlled the local brewing of alcohol, because most of it is locally brewed. But that means that the South Sudanese leaders have to come up with deterrent measures to control this from their side because we cannot wake up in one morning and say we are blocking it because it is a process, the district will have to form an ordinance which is a process,” Mr Oceng said.
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