The Ugandan Parliament has rejected the Alcoholic Drinks Management Invoice 2023, citing considerations over its lack of readability on the issue it goals to deal with and the potential monetary implications it might impose on the consolidated fund.
The Legal professional Common, Kiwanuka Kiryowa, highlighted that the invoice violates Article 93(a)(2) of the 1995 Structure.
This invoice, in our view, offends Article 93(a)(2) of the Structure, which gives that you simply shall not proceed with a invoice that has a monetary implication on the consolidated fund or an alteration of the identical.
From the studying of the bulk report, you possibly can clearly see that the implementation of this invoice, if handed, will impact the consolidated fund.
Kiryowa additionally argued that the problems addressed by the proposed invoice are already coated below present legal guidelines.
He identified that the one new facet launched by the invoice is the regulation of the sale of alcohol by time, which he believes might be managed by way of licensing relatively than by way of new laws.
Moreover, he talked about that the invoice contradicts the Employment Act, additional complicating its potential implementation.
The Alcoholic Drinks Management Invoice 2023 was launched in November final 12 months by Hon. Sarah Opendi, a Member of Parliament representing Tororo District below the Nationwide Resistance Motion (NRM).
The invoice aimed to ban the sale of alcohol to minors and to control alcohol consumption extra strictly. Among the many provisions, the invoice sought to ban the sale of alcohol past 10 p.m. on weekdays and after midnight on weekends.
Violations of those guidelines would end in hefty fines of UGX 20 million or a minimal imprisonment of 10 years.
