A private member’s bill, the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill, 2023, which seeks to regulate the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks, has been presented for its first reading to Parliament.
The Bill, which also seeks to prohibit the sale of alcoholic drinks to children, was tabled during the House sitting on Tuesday, 14 November 2023.
Hon. Sarah Opendi (NRM, Tororo District) the mover of the Bill said it has been gazetted as required by law, noting that she was granted leave of the House to introduce the Bill on 08 November 2022.
The Bill got its first reading even without the required certificate of financial implications, having passed the mandatory 60 days required to wait for the Bill’s approval from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
“The Minister for Finance declined to give a certificate of financial implications to the Bill and subsequently, we have had to invoke section 76(4) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015 for the Bill to be read for the first time,” said Speaker Anita Among.
While chairing the House, Among noted that since the Bill had passed the mandatory 60-day threshold, it was thus ready to be tabled on the floor of the House.
The Speaker has referred the Bill to the Committee on Health and that of Tourism, Trade and Industry for scrutiny, and report back to the House.
