PAULUS KAYIGGWA AND KEMIGISHA FATUMA get to the bottom of Kigali’s drinks shortage

Have you noticed the empty fridges and desolate bars? Have you, like us, been asking yourself, where are all the drinks?

Valentine Uwiragiye, Secretary of Gasarabwe Distributors that deals with Bralirwa products in Remera, said the scarcity has been caused by insufficient supply of drinks from Bralirwa.

"Following almost two weeks of scarcity of these drinks on the market, we are left with no option but to close our business and wait for the conditions to improve,” Uwiragiye lamented.

Retail shops around Kigali have opted to increase soda and beer prices. In many places, a bottle of soda will now set you back Frw300, a 50 per cent increase from the much more friendly price of Frw200.

Uwiragiye added that though their business has been affected by the insufficient supply of Bralirwa products, they have not increased prices.

"We are selling a crate of soda to our customers at Frw3,600, a crate of Primus at Frw4,650, Mitsing at Frw6,700 and Amustel at Frw9,000,” Uwiragiye said.

A mini survey conducted by Sunday Times indicated that Coca-Cola and Fanta-Orange are hardly available while the less popular Fanta-Lemon and Sprite are easier to find.

Joseph Ngarambe, a retailer and bar owner in Kimironko, said that recently he has been opening half time because there aren’t enough sodas and beers to keep his bar open until late.

"It’s hard to find these drinks to restock and we have reached an extent of only reserving drinks for our daily customers,” he said. He added that they have been forced to increase the prices for these drinks to sustain business.

"We used to buy drinks from the nearby wholesalers but now we go to distant places for a crate or two of sodas and beer. The increase in the prices has been a way of meeting those additional transport costs incurred during the search for these drinks,” Ngarambe explained.

Ngarambe said that he has noticed a reduction of customers because of the slight increment in their prices.

Bamalise Uwamahoro, a parent of two children in Nyakabanda, Kicukiro said that they no longer buy sodas during meals as they have been doing previously, but instead they take water.

"To buy a bottle of soda at Frw300 or 250, I would rather buy more charcoal for boiling our own water that we can share with my children who have no problem taking it. I will only be buying sodas for my visitors,” she asserted.

A source from Bralirwa who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the factory is in need of renovation. Its efficiency is being undermined.

"We are busy repairing the machines and I expect production to normalise as soon as possible,” said the source.

The source added that they previously produced a lot of drinks to keep in store for future supplies but that recently demand has overwhelmed the supply.

Door Platenga, Bralirwa’s managing director, in a telephone interview last week denied that production has slowed. She explained that there is no shortage in supply but rather an 18 per cent increase in demand, pointing out that consumption has increased from 16.4 million litres last year to 20 million litres this year.

Platenga also suggested that the shortage could be a result of two public holidays that stalled their production. She denied that the company was suffering technical problems and assured that the recommended retail price for soda is unchanged at Frw175, while the price for wholesalers at Frw3,650 per a crate.

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