Waragi

However, Uganda Waragi is a particular brand of industrially distilled gin produced by East African Breweries Limited.

Although the act was ostensibly passed in order to prevent Ugandans from experiencing negative health effects as a result of the dangerous production methods of moonshining, economic motivations were also in play; the colonial government wished to ensure the dominance of imported gins from Britain in the Ugandan alcohol market, which was being undercut by local gin production via moonshiners.

Locally produced gin quickly proved more popular than those imported from Britain, thanks in part due to their cheaper prices.

When the UPC came to power, it ordered the construction of a distillery factory, naming the gin produced there Uganda Waragi.

The factory was staffed with a group of 26 blenders who formed the Association of Uganda Distillers and Vitners, which was headed by Joel Sentamu.

[4] After Ugandan independence in 1962, the government of Uganda passed the Enguli Act of 1965, which was designed to encourage local producers of enguli to supply their produce to the distillery factory, in addition to stipulating that moonshining could only be done with government-issued licenses; this was done so the gin industry in Uganda could be regulated and taxed by the government.

[5] Waragi derives its name from "war gin", as the British expatriates in the 1950s and 1960s referred to the distilled spirit known in Luganda language as enguli.

[4] In April 2010, 80 people died from multiple organ dysfunction syndrome after drinking waragi adulterated with a high amount of methanol over a three-week period in Kabale District.

[8][9][10] Many of the deaths were blamed on the reluctance of people to openly admit their relatives had been drinking it, allowing the abuse of the substance to continue.

The episode also covered the cultural significance of Waragi in Uganda, with reporter Thomas Morton imbibing various distillations of the traditional beverage.

[13] The base of waragi distillate can be made from either cassava, bananas, millet or sugar cane, depending on the crops grown in the region.