'One-man, one-straw' rule sees revival of Ugandan home brew

The adoption of a "one-man, one-straw" rule in home brew drinking clubs in eastern Uganda has seen a resurgence of a declining social tradition.

Christian pastors launched a vigorous campaign against the nightly gatherings of people drinking ajono, a beer made from millet, a few years ago.

While doctors had warned about sharing a straw to drink from a central pot.



But when brewers introduced the new straw rule, the pastime became more popular than ever.

"Previously all us here shared only one straw which would rotate among the drinkers," says James Omongin, chairman of the Half London Club in Tororo district.

"Then there was the warning of the medical doctors to the ajono drinkers to depart from the old-fashioned style of sharing the tubes to avoid the spread of certain communicable diseases including TB," Mr Omongin says.

So ajono drinkers now buy their own epi (drinking straw) which they can decorate or label or hire ones that are sterilised with hot water after use.