Minister Peace Mutuuzo has blamed the rising cases of teenage pregnancies on energy drinks.
The state minister for gender and culture has noted with concern that too many brands of energy drinks on the Ugandan market are partly to blame for the increasing cases of teenage pregnancy in the country.
The minister stated these concerns yesterday while officiating the budget conference for Bunyangabu District at Kibiito District Headquarters.
“These days there are many energy drinks on the market and our people are being deceived that they give manpower. You ask yourself, manpower for what? Are they planning a war? In the evening when they get intoxicated, they don’t spare our young girls,” Mutuuzo said.
The Minister went forth and called upon the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to intervene and regulate the number of energy drink brands.
“Is it morally right to disguise alcoholic drinks as energy drinks? Are we short of energy?” she questioned.
The Minister who also doubles as the Women representative for Bunyangabu said manufacturers of energy drinks have gone ahead to give attractive brand names that lure people to consume their products.
The minister suggested that manufacturers ought to first measure the alcoholic content in the drinks before putting them on market.
“Many of these energy drinks have been baptized with delicious names like Mukama Nayamba, Aleluya, Praise God and now you see born again people rushing for these drinks,” she said.
“When we see our young girls getting pregnant it’s not because of Covid, it’s more of these drinks and energy drinks put on the market without necessarily analyzing them and their content. It is really important that we go slow on these drinks because some of them have been baptized very delicious names,” she added.
The minister further advised parents whose daughters got pregnant during the Covid-19 induced lockdown to take them back to school when schools reopen.