Ugandans are the hardest drinking Africans in the motherland, both in terms of per capita consumption and the hooch they choose to chug. Waregi, or “war gin,” is what they call the local moonshine, and it makes the harshest Appalachian rotgut taste like freaking Bailey’s.
Uganda’s had a pretty good spell the last 25 years – no major civil wars, a little bit of an Ebola outbreak every so often, including right now. And they’re the alcoholism capital of Africa. One favorite type of booze the locals make is called waragi. We’re going to go make some, drink some, and hopefully not go blind.
In 2004, the World Health Organization released its global status report on alcohol and health, finding
Uganda as the top contender for per capita alcohol consumption in the world. Since 2011, the numbers have only increased. Basically, making Uganda the drunkest place on earth.
So when Vice heard about Uganda’s countrywide production of a type of moonshine called for waragi,
we were interested. But after we discovered that people were going blind and dying for drinking waragi cut with industrial chemicals, we knew this was something we needed to taste for ourselves.
Making its way through my system. I can feel it kind of spreading out. Following the release of the World Health Organization’s report, the administration of President Yoweri Museveni, acting through Uganda’s Parliament, ordered a commission to be formed to fact check the report’s findings. If you’re wondering what prompted a reaction that seems like the geopolitical equivalent of an angry work
email, here’s some context.
