Tororo District Woman MP Sarah Opendi Defends Her Alcohol Bill, Insists, it Will Reduce Poverty and HIV Prevalence.
Secretary to Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi has cleared Sarah Opendi (DWR Tororo) to proceed with the enactments of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023, after he issued a certificate of financial implication, indicating that her bill won’t impose a charge on the consolidated fund.
"Just yesterday, I saw the letter from the Secretary to Treasury, in response to our request for the certificate for financial implication and he did respond, but this has been overtaken by events, because we had to rely on our Rules that give the MP 60days. And so, when he responds now to give me a certificate, with comments, it is beyond the 60 days rule. But the certificate was issued and it clearly shows that that there is no charge on the consolidated fund,” said Opendi.
She made the revelation while appearing before Parliament's Health Committee to defend her Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023.
While appearing before the Health Committee, Opendi defended her proposal to impose a time limit within which alcohol should be sold in bars, saying the move is intended to reduce on noise pollution because some bars are located in residential areas & whoever wants to drink beyond the legal time, they should drink in their homes.
"If somebody buys (alcohol) and goes to drink from home, we have no problem with that, for us we shall not control people’s homes, you are actually free. That is why we said supermarkets can sell alcohol from 10am to 10Pm, so if one wants to drink, you can go and buy from the supermarket, go and drink from home. Why do people fear drinking from home?" remarked Opendi.
Opendi also attacked fellow MPs who use alcohol as a campaign commodity, saying their actions are drowning their voters in poverty and it was about time they had a honest conversation about the impact of alcohol abuse is having on the lives of Ugandans.
She said, "You are happy because you are a Member of Parliament, you buy alcohol for people to just get drunk, you are actually making people to drown in poverty, just because you want to remain as MP. We must be serious and tell people the truth, people must be able to work, be productive so that they can be able to take care of themselves and their families and we shall have peace and prosperity in this country."
Opendi added, "I think as a country, we shouldn’t be happy when Uganda takes a gold medal in alcohol consumption. I know the breweries and those others want to sell alcohol, but let us sell this alcohol within time, people need time to go and sleep so that they can have energy the next day, not to be wasted. People must be able to work, be productive so that they can be able to take care of themselves and their families and we shall have peace and prosperity in this country."
Comments
Post a Comment