John Ekongo
The ingredients read on the label, barley, hops and water, and we are made to believe as harmless as they are, apparently they are. Under no circumstance whatsoever are they none to our benefit at all health-wise, it was revealed.
On Tuesday this week, I was fortunate to be one of the attendees of the awareness day for drugs and alcohol, a noble initiative, and I must say heads up for Dr Kamwi and his bunch. There were some revelations made which somehow I do not tend to agree with wholeheartedly. I will attempt to point out why.
According to a research finding by some group, averagely a Namibian takes something like 30 bottles of beer per week
I am sure that for most of us who are from the streets of Katutura, an odd bottle of beer for breakfast is not really that big a problem. There are reasons why people don’t understand the beer issue. You see, our Windhoek lager has been judged to be the best, and naturally we are just celebrating the premium status of the golden brew.
So in the end, 30 beer bottles is nothing and somehow, somewhere I think that the people that carried out this research were a bit biased. There is just no possible reality that averagely we take 30 bottles, be it dumpy or omukonyo’s. If you would ask me, I think the margin would be somewhere in the 50s. All I have to do is just confirm my figure with my neighbour Tate Shinana’s shebeen.
Nonetheless, what baffles me a lot are the findings with regard to the four northern executive tribe regions (if I may borrow the words of Mr Lazarus Jacobs). Now seriously, there is no sync at all that the four northern regions are the lowest in consumption of booze.
With shebeen names like, Mr Happy Farewell Bar, Lets Drink Together Station Bar no 4 (don’t bother with number 1 up to 3), Thirst Buster Shebeen @ Onheleiwa and Omuthiya One for the Road Bar, nothing suggests that this is the lowest consumption area, it is just not possible.
For further evidence, just go to the nearest Namibia Breweries outlet and ask them how much of the golden liquid they send down to the north weekly. Before the other supply is due, the one truck is already coming back for the next consignment.
On the other hand, I also agree with the findings at one point. That we tend to take a bit of alcohol rather too much. With people from Katutura, usually our alcohol levels go on the increase during weekends and month-end, which is usually when we get to have some whiskey. Don’t blame us, it is the only time we get to have money.
Now if the researchers pointed out that during weekends the findings were found to have been during that time, I would agree, and if such they did that, then I must admit that we are a bunch of boozers.
But for our colleagues from the suburbs, I believe that they are more than the average consumer of alcohol compared to the people from the lokasie. I have my reasons. In the suburbs before dinner, the people have some glass of sherry, now that is something like eight percent. During dinner they have red wine, the classy expensive wine, not Tassenberg. Now that is something like forty percent. Then after dinner, they close it off with whiskey, another whopping seventy percent. In total in a space of two hours that is something like over two hundred percentage of alcoholic volume.
Compared to beer, one bottle only four percent, times thirty bottles.
However, I must point out, that with beer the ingredients are healthy, so how possibly can hops and wheat be of any detriment. Next time, they will tell us that omagongo and ombiike (Oshiwambo gin) are not to be sold. Tell that to my old man and he will have a fit.
In conclusion, I would like to conclude with the saying that my findings are not to be taken seriously as they are yet to be confirmed and independently verified. I do not want another case of the London issue on my tail.
I also wish to say many thanks to the readers of this column, your comments and input are much appreciated. Your words of encouragement and support are noted dearly.
Have a nice Sorry Ngo.