By Our Reporter
The Uganda Alcohol Industry Association (UAIA) has elected a new executive. This was during the association’s Annual General Meeting held at Kati Kati Restaurant recently.
During the AGM, Uganda Breweries Limited’s Juliana Kagwa was elected as the association’s new Vice Chairperson, taking over from Manish Kalla of Grays Uganda.
Ms Kagwa, who previously served as the Secretary-General, joins Nile Breweries Limited’s Onapito Ekomoloit, who has retained his position as Chairperson and Srinivasa Reddy of Premier Distilleries, who remains the association’s Treasurer on the executive committee.
Other committee members include John Magara of Beedee Eff; Raghavendra Reddy Ganesh of Blue Nile Distillers; G. Uwa Maheshwar Reddy of Hema Beverages; and M.S Harinath Reddy of King Albert Distillers.
UAIA is an umbrella body bringing together the registered and regulated producers of adult beverages in Uganda. It was formed in 2006 to align the interests of the manufacturers and promote the responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The association recently unveiled a report on the illicit alcohol market in Uganda, which highlighted the social and economic impact of the continued proliferation of illicit alcohol on consumers.
The report titled Understanding and Sizing Illicit Alcohol Consumption in Uganda contains findings from research conducted in 2020 by Euromonitor International. Among others, it shows that; illicit alcohol makes up 65% of the total market volume in Uganda; its consumption grew by 9% in the last three years, and this increased during the lockdown due to the closure of entertainment establishments.
Additionally, the report found that an approximated UGX 1.6 trillion in revenue goes unrealised by the government and Uganda Revenue Authority due to tax evasion, which is a result of a lax culture of enforcement of the Enguli act, which prohibits the manufacture and consumption of Enguli (alcohol) without a license.