The wondering mind of the great antelope refuses to wonder. Meanwhile, the restless paws of the sapient lion remain at rest. The fruitless sack of the great oracle keeps dangling in the wilderness yet the omniscient eyes of the great owl refuses to see. No, the gods are not crazy. They, the gods, are just drunk.
This is the story of Africa and this is the story of Uganda. From the archbishop to the errand boy. From the police to the criminal. From the president to the mayor. From the gods to the worshippers. Almost everybody is drunk in Uganda today all thanks to the cheap, local but extremely strong waragi -- king and top predator of all alcoholic drinks.
Waragi is Uganda's number one gin locally distilled from bananas (sometimes from sugarcane, millet, cassava, etc.) but stronger than the buffalo. The power of waragi on the human body is like that of a magnitude 9.5 earthquake and only the Most High has the power to stop it once it strikes. Waragi, just like fire, starts gently as a good servant but quickly turns into a very bad master, capturing the brain and the nervous system and kicking the body like a football. In some very extreme cases, the merciless waragi also knocks out light out of its victims leaving many drunk, powerless, and blind.
Thanks to the great waragi and its disciples, Uganda is now the drunkest place on earth. According to the World Health Organization, Uganda is the drunkest place on earth based on per capita alcohol consumption with adults consuming at least 5 gallons a year. According to recent statistics, the economic and social harmful impacts of alcohol (mostly waragi) in Uganda today may be worse than even the deadly HIV and Malaria combined.
Some people drink alcohol just to hide away from their problems and in a poor country like Uganda, it is quite easy to understand why almost the entire population continues to live and "survive" on waragi even after knowing very well some of the harmful effects. It may however surprise you to know that, even some politicians in Uganda today use alcohol handouts as a means of getting more votes. In other words, those in power who were supposed to help overcome this waragi issue, are the same people fueling the problem.
A few may disagree but facts and statistics don't lie. The president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is one of the worst leaders in Africa today. He is a dictator and has been in office since January 26, 1986. Apart from "political stability", there is almost nothing good to show for economically. While most Ugandans sadly continue to drink themselves to death, some estimates put Museveni's personal net worth at 13 billion US dollars.
Uganda is an oil-rich country rich in several other natural resources. Yet, Uganda continues to wallow in poverty thanks to poor leadership, corruption and illiteracy. The selected few continue to enjoy while the greater portion of the population continues to die in poverty and in despair.
In most parts of Africa, it is a great taboo for a man to put a gun to his head or a rope to his neck. No proper funeral rites are performed for such deceased people. However, drinking yourself to death is considered "natural". And that my friends is why most desperate people in Uganda have resulted to waragi. It is the surest way to die "naturally".