EASTERN PROVINCE

GATSIBO — The government directed people to adjust the time for drinking alcohol in the country, but has it been honored?

In villages people seem not to care about their drinking patterns; at times starting to drink in the morning when they are expected to be working. The recommended time is from 5.00pm

People drink alcohol for different reasons; today, like it was in our traditional society. Alcohol draws people together; friends meet to discuss various social issues or simple charting on a glass of beer.

Some after a long day’s work feel that they need a drink to relax their minds and at times to catch up on the latest gossip.

In villages, the local brew commonly called kanyanga, and kigagye are mostly taken.

Residents use the market days especially for drinking after selling their produce; and the market day is a special event. In most areas it is twice a week.

Some however, drink as a means to escape from their problems and this is when they become a danger to society; in that such people do not mind about the expenditures.

Children see elders as their role models and have the urge to emulate them in future. It is therefore wrong for people who are seen as responsible members of the society to over drink and become a nuisance.

Recently, a prominent man in Rwimbogo sector in Gatsibo district, who is the chairman of a local AIDS association drank too much and was mistaken for dead.

On Saturday being a market day, Birekereho went drinking from morning and by 3: 00 pm he was so drunk that he lost his stamina and fell on his way home.

People gathered around him after he had fallen near Nyakayaga primary school. He was discovered by primary kids thinking he was dead.

It was later discovered that the man had just taken more than enough alcohol and even soiled himself.

This gentleman is supposed to be an example to others yet alcohol has turned him into a nuisance, he has become a common talk.

Apart from affecting morality, too much drinking of alcohol especially kanyanga in villages has been blamed for increasing cases of domestic violence and fights.

Last month, a policeman after allegedly taking too much liquor walked into a small pub in kabarore and shot his colleague wounding him severely and was admitted in critical condition.

Another bizarre incidence happened in Rwagitima, where friends were drinking and eating, after which one pierced a metallic wire into another’s ear almost killing him.

These are just some of the negative effects of alcohol that have come to the limelight. Although drinking seems to be a norm, local leaders should step up a war against overdrinking which has led some people abandon their responsibilities.

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