Minister blames Energy Drinks for high teenage pregnancies in Uganda

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 state minister for gender and culture, Ms Peace Mutuuzo has said.

“These days there are many energy drinks on the market and our people are being deceived that they give manpower. You ask yourself, man power for what? Are they planning a war? In the evening when they get intoxicated they don’t spare our young girls?” Ms Mutuuzo said before calling upon Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to intervene and regulate on the number of energy drink brands.

She adds, “Is it morally right to disguise alcoholic drinks as energy drink? Are we short of energy?” she asked.

Ms Mutuuzo made the remarks on Wednesday while officiating the budget conference for Bunyangabu District at Kibiito District headquarters.

The minister who doubles as the Women representative for Bunyangabu said manufacturers of the energy drinks have gone ahead to give attractive brand names that lure people to consume their products.

“Majority of these energy drinks have been baptised with delicious names like Mukama Nayamba, Aleluya, Praise God and now days you see born again people rushing for these drinks,” She said.

According to the minister, manufactures ought to first measure the alcoholic content in the drinks before putting them on market.

“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’s remarks come days after different reports have indicated a sharp rise in cases of teenage pregnancies and early marriage during the virus-induced lockdown across the country.