Like most Ugandans, Richard Acire had planned to have a memorable Independence Day celebration.
On October 8, Acire reportedly told his friends that he wanted to set a record in celebrating the 56th independence anniversary before he started drinking.
Little did he know that the record would be his demise.
As some locals, government officials, politicians and foreign dignitaries gathered at Kasasa Grounds in Kyotera District for the national celebrations on October 9, 2018, the 45-year-old resident of Pabuga village, Atiak Sub-County in Amuru District was busy spending his Shs20,000 on local brew (waragi), according to friends and relatives.
All this, he did on an empty stomach.
“He was telling everyone that he wanted to set a record in celebrating the independence,” said a relative who asked not to be named in this report.
Ms Agness Lanyero, a nursing officer at Atiak Health Center IV where Acire was rushed for medical attention after collapsing said the autopsy report was yet to be released but there was no doubt that he had died as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol.
“We believe the alcohol he took was too much given the fact that he didn’t eat anything. He died 30 minutes after he was brought here by his relatives,” she said.
Mr Wilfred Odiya Baguma, the Atiak LCIII chairperson said Acire was an alcohol addict and an HIV/AIDS patient.
“It’s true that the deceased used to drink a lot, but he had a lot of problems with taking his ARVs, that could have brought in a lot of complications,” Mr Baguma said.
Acire is not the first person to die of alcohol.
In fact last Thursday, a woman identified as Akello Polin, 57, a resident of Ladiema Village in Lungulu Sub County, Nwoya District died after she reportedly took too much alcohol.
She died while being rushed to Anaka Hospital in Anaka town council, Nwoya District.
A 2016 World Health Organization (WHO)) report, indicated that alcohol consumption was responsible for the death of over 3 million people worldwide.
