Lakes: Wulu county officials implicated in illegal selling of alcohol
August 12, 2013 (RUMBEK) – Lakes state communities have expressed alarm that some bar owners with political connections have been openly flouting a state-wide ban on the sale of local brew and beer, while many others have been deprived of their livelihood.
Lakes state military caretaker governor Maj-Gen Matur Chut Dhuol ordered the alcohol ban across the state’s eight counties in June, with women across the state complaining that the decision had left them struggling to support their families.
Many women say they have been unable to feed their children or pay school fees since the ban was introduced, while some widows say they have been forced to feed their children with wild fruit collected from forest.
Governor Duol ordered the alcohol ban after a series of violent clashes between rival cattle raiding groups in the state, but it has been resisted by some bar owners with political connections.
However, many destitute women say they turned to brewing alcohol as the only source of income available.
They have asked the government to reconsider its decision, but their concerns have so far been overlooked.
One Wulu county resident told Sudan Tribune he witnessed the office manager of the commissioner of Wulu county, John Sunday Ajac, on Friday load a private mini bus with beer bought from Western Equatoria’s Mvolo county.
The witness claimed that the office manager had turned his private house into a secret bar, selling bottles of beer for 10 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) each.
Another resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said senior government officials have several connections with big hotels to sell their beer, while at the same time local communities are denied permission to sell their beer or local brew, which is made from local cassava and popularly known as Cikho.
His said the county official had travelled to Mvolo where he loaded a mini bus with beers before returning to Wulu.
The resident said that county officials had remained silent, despite the office manager allegedly operating a secret bar from his own home, while local residents remain too scared to make their alcoholic local brew.
(ST)