MPs seek to amend Mututho laws

An alcohol Bill seeking to increase drinking hours from six to 12 hours has been tabled in Parliament

The Alcoholic Drinks Control (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in the House for the first time, seeks to among other things amend the Mututho law that limits drinking on weekdays to six hours only.

The Amendment Bill, filed by Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi, went through the First Reading on Thursday.

Clause 11 of the Act seeks to, among other things, “provide for a minimum period of 12 hours during which premises shall be allowed to be open so as to prevent business from collapsing due to high overheads and low returns.”

Regulations introduced on the gazettement of the Bill last year set the opening time for drinking on weekdays at 5pm with bars allowed to sell drinks only up to 11pm.

The proposal for increasing of drinking hours means that the opening time could be earlier than 5pm and the closing later than 11pm.

The bill also proposes that the regulations allow the owner or a manager of the premises an additional one hour before and after the first and last hour of sale to start up and clear operations of the day.

This means an additional hour before and after the closing and opening times for the business to open and finish up operations.

Mr Kapondi, who also chairs the Committee on Administration and National Security says in the Bill: “The principle object of this Bill is to amend the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act so as to make it respond to the practical challenges that have arisen out of its enactment and implementation.”

The public should also be allowed to participate in the drawing up of the regulations, the amendment says, and the regulations would need to be approved by Parliament.

The good news for manufacturers lies in an amendment for the warning on a drink to cover 30 per cent of the label rather than 30 per cent of the package as earlier suggested.

On May 27, 2011, the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) secured a suspension by the High Court on the clause, arguing it was impossible to execute.

It is also proposed that manufacturers be given 18 months to comply with the new requirement instead of the six months demanded in the original regulations.

The bill also proposes to remove a blanket prohibition on the location of a bar or a place where alcohol is consumed within 300 metres of a learning institution.

“In practice, several premises including high class tourism hotels have to be closed down if this provision were to be implemented without due regard to pre-existing investments,” the bill states.

The judgement of how close bars and other premises should be to schools has been left to the District Committee charged with issuing the licences for the sale of alcohol.

If the amended bill is passed, the minister responsible shall be required to provide the necessary regulations for its enactment by the end of the next 20 days.

The Mututho laws were introduced in December last year and there have been unsuccessful attempts through the courts to stop their implementation.

The amendment bill is likely to trigger further debate over the controversial laws and their equally controversial implementation, where they are often cited as yet another avenue for police to seek bribes.