Peasants produced presidents, now the rich produce addicts

By Steven Masiga

Mbale, Uganda: There was a time when narcotics and local liquors like waragi were associated with poverty-stricken slums, Kitoro, Bwaise, Kamwokya in Kampala, or Namatala, Shaba, and Musoto in Mbale. These were areas where survival was tough, and indulgence in illicit substances seemed a byproduct of desperation. But today, a disturbing trend is emerging: the very homes once adorned with milk, soda, meat, and vintage wine in their fridges are now sheltering narcotic abusers, children of the rich, the elite, and the educated.

The tragedy is overwhelming. Parents who have invested millions, from nursery to university, often up to UGX 100 million or more per child, are now watching their sons and daughters sink into addiction. Their children, once seen as destined for boardrooms and parliament, now reek of mairungi, miraa, and waragi, instead of ambition and success.

How do we explain a graduate, fluent in English and perhaps holding a magna cum laude degree, casually chewing mairungi on a street corner in Kololo or Bugolobi? Many of our elites are broken, not by poverty but by moral decay and substance abuse.

I recently had tea with Mr. Mabonga, a respected elder from Nabumali with a strong background in security and government circles. His warning was sobering: “If nothing is done urgently, we risk losing an entire generation, including children of ministers and prominent officials, to drugs.” I agree. This is no longer a problem confined to slums. It is in senior quarters in Mbale, in Nakasero, Kololo, and Bugolobi—areas once considered symbols of prestige.

Children from these elite backgrounds, rather than consuming wines or soft drinks like their parents once did, are now indulging in bizarre, destructive behaviours—smoking grey human hair, injecting narcotics, consuming cyber drugs, and even experimenting with dangerous substances unknown to previous generations.

What is even more perplexing is that our ancestors, many of them illiterate village youths in the 1920s and 1930s, never indulged in such acts. My grandfather, Kamoti Asoni of Bukalasi, Mbale, never touched these substances. Today’s youth, better informed, more educated, and equipped with global knowledge, are doing what even the uninformed rejected. Is it mere peer pressure, loss of reasoning, or societal collapse?

We must remember: this country once had communities that pooled resources to send children to the UK for studies. Many of these individuals returned to lead the independence movement. Why can’t our current youth emulate them?

Cultural institutions and government structures must rise to the occasion. They must use every public space to fight this vice. Without urgent moral intervention, peasants will continue producing presidents—and the rich, tragically, will continue producing drunkards and drug addicts.

Yes, children from both poor and wealthy backgrounds indulge in substance abuse. But the heartbreak hits harder when a parent who invested millions in elite education sees their child become a shadow of their former self.

It is time we rose as a nation and said NO to drugs, NO to alcohol abuse, and YES to restoring dignity and purpose in our youth.

The writer is a researcher and Master of Laws student based in Mbale. Tel: 0782231577