Under the influence: Drug abuse in Uganda as hundreds slup into addiction

KAMPALA - Drug abuse has reached alarming levels in universities. Some parents have taken desperate measures, including dragging their own children to prison over drug abuse. 

An investigation by New Vision has established that drug abuse has become a lifestyle for hundreds of university students. 

University students routinely use drugs like cocaine and heroin openly without fear. The investigation established that drug dealers have infiltrated universities and have a carefully curated network. 

These appeal to students whose lives are at a different level of social development — the impressionable, who are free from their parents’ watch; the rebellious minority, normally the ‘planned kids’, who love binge drinking and taking drugs because they can afford. 

We start at Kampala International University (KIU). M.L (real name withheld) is a student of social work at the university. He spends most of his time puffing weed and chewing miraa. 

On a Tuesday evening (9:00pm), when we engage M.L, with sunken cheeks, a mouth in perpetual sucking motion and pointed shoulder blades peering from an oversize vest, he looks paranoid. His spindly frame elicits sympathy. 

He speaks impeccable English. M.L. was introduced to drugs in 2020 by his friends. The allure of being a “bad boy” at university led him to experiment with drugs. 

The first taste was enough to get him hooked. Doing drugs around the clock and drinking insanely lethal amounts of alcohol defined him. 

Children playing in the slum commonly known for harbouring students from the universities around Bugoloobi, Kampala. Drug dealers have infiltrated campuses and have a carefully curated network.

He is now a celebrated member of the six-member crew of drug abusers who dot the university. 

The infamous crew includes two ladies. “I want to quit,” he says. Just to show cause, he has cut his consumption to four bottles of beer. “I chew just one kilogramme of miraa from three. I am determined,” he says. 

At his peak, M.L, who resides in a hostel in Nabutiti, Kansanga, would consume a cocktail of illicit brew and drugs. He always felt the need to get high to fill the void in his empty life. 

Since he started, M.L has consumed a combination of drugs ranging from the most common miraa, heroin, cocaine mixture, marijuana, shisha, crystal meth, and sniffing petrol. 

All he needs is money because the drug suppliers work around the clock. Confidentiality is the password. He is not the only university student grappling with drug addiction. 

Mental health statistics from Butabika Hospital in 2021 indicate that university students topped the list of mental health cases. 

Each day, the hospital would receive 20 patients, compared to other years where they would register 10-15. A daily cumulative number of 20 patients translates to over 7,200 in a year.

The then Makerere University guild president, Robert Maseruka, was aware of students grappling with drug abuse. He could not point a finger at why it was spiralling out of control. Maseruka was worried that many promising careers were going to waste. 

“Students call them study drugs. They claim these drugs give them courage to study for exams as they reportedly aid in concentration, mental stamina and memory,” Maseruka said. 

He believed institutions should team up with communities and students to eliminate the vice “No matter the interventions, if drug abuse is fought without involving the students, it is a futile fight,” he said. 

Eric Maluba, an international student from Liberia at the International University of East Africa (IUEA), started using drugs when he came to Uganda in 2019 to study an engineering course. 

Six months later, he suffered a family tragedy in which he lost both parents. He got hooked on drugs to numb the pain. 

“I had no option if it wasn’t marijuana; I would be dead of stress, maybe, though it is turning me into something different,” he says. 

Maluba is struggling to end drug addiction. It has been four wasted years in Uganda. 
There are concerted efforts to fly him back home to Monrovia. At our chance meeting, he had escaped from rehab to check on his long-time friends, with whom he used to abuse drugs.

Names and location of drug hubs,  Kiyembe slum

Kiyembe slum is in the precincts of Kansanga Market, along Gaba Road. It is dotted by derelict structures and has a heavy stench. Oblivious to the discomfort, dwellers go about their lives unabated. 

They spend their days either chewing miraa or sipping potent local gin. A cursory glance will tell that they are in dire need of a warm meal and a cold bath. 

Many look like the ‘wretched of the earth’. It is a hub for most drugs, including crystal meth, cocaine, marijuana and heroin — mostly adulterated ones. 

The place is strategically located between two universities: KIU and IUEA. It is home to many who are swayed by the relatively low cost of housing. 

In Kiyembe, many youth openly abuse drugs. Foreign students prefer the dimly lit New Life Bar. 

They are supplied by a plug called Mozey. Inside the bar, there is a mixture of smoke from marijuana, shisha and normal cigarettes. Mozey is versatile.

He operates from the outside and sometimes delivers to clients who do not like moving. Nearby is a restaurant. True, it serves food, but serving drugs is the biggest business.

William Taremwa, the general secretary of Kiswa zone 4, interacting with Medard Twinomuhwezi, a hostel guard in Kiswa recently. Twinomuhwezi says students no longer use marijuana in the open. They now eat pancakes, cakes and daddies laced with drugs.

For students 

A brown-skinned woman sits on the mat to sort her miraa for clients. She is called Grace. Students buy from her and attest to the quality of her miraa. 

I stealthily recorded short videos as she transacted. Unfortunately, I was rudely asked to delete them. 

“What are you doing? The man from behind asked. I tried to pretend, but it was too late. Quick thinking told me to placate the group. I bought a handful of miraa and shared it with the gang. Confusing them, I had to join them and chew together. The conversation flowed. I learned that the habit of chewing miraa has sucked in more girls. 

“We eat grass for leisure,” one of them joked, comfortable in her surroundings. 

Mobile Money 

This mobile money point is like the epicentre of drug dealing. It is near Kabalagala Police Station. It is between Beer Sheeba Clinic and the former Deuces Bar. 

From afar, clients appear to be conducting monetary transactions. You can only learn about the transactions after a tip-off. I was thwarted in my initial efforts to befriend this particular mobile money operator. 

Later, I won their confidence after some money transactions. I lurked around as customers, mostly students, made the drug transactions. 

I also learned that to create a decoy and throw off potential investigators, the mobile money operator now parks a silver-grey Toyota Ipsum laden with plastics. It sells plastics, but clients who throng it never leave with anything but small stashes.

Forest zone  

Forest is one of the renowned drug hubs led by Ambrose. The zone is a well-reserved, scenic place. It is patronised by international students from Somalia, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Kenya. 

The place is about two to three metres from Kabalagala Police Station, behind John Rich Supermarket. 

According to the locals, this place has been in existence for a long time, and the proprietor has been in and out of police detention. Forest has been described by one of the local leaders as a death trap for students who go there to chill, but end up addicted to drugs.

Some of the ghetto flats in Bugoloobi, Kampala, where the students from the surrounding universities reside. These places are used by students who are addicted to drugs.

Kyambogo University

Two huge slums occupied by people of low income define Kyambogo University. At the foothills is Banda. It has about four drug hubs, namely B-13, Ghetto, Mukidama and Mukatogo. 

In the three drug hubs, B-13, Ghetto and Mukidama, the youth spend most of their time puffing weed (marijuana), sniffing petrol, chewing miraa and playing indoor games like ludo and draughts.

“In this place, most of the youth smoke and students come from their hostels across the road to this side,” says local defence officer Habibu Lamusa. “They hardly smoke from this side because they are easy to arrest, so they do it from their hostels of residence,” he adds. 

Lamusa is convinced that drug abuse is the main cause of the ever-increasing cases of rape, theft, house burglary and late-night attacks. 

In Banda zone alone, three cases are recorded in a month, according to Lamusa. Lamusa says the most affected people are students who reside in ghetto areas. With some students also being drug abusers, the situation worsens.

Makerere University Business School 

Some students who use drugs do their best to beat security. About 1km from the flats behind Bugolobi Market are the ghetto flats, where most of the drug abusers smoke from. 

Medard Twinomuhwezi, a hostel guard, says students now disguise their consumption. “They no longer use marijuana in the open. They now lace pancakes, cakes and daddies with drugs. One minute they are feasting on pancakes and the next minute it is mayhem,” he says. 

Makerere University 

At Makerere University, such cases of students who have even turned into drug addicts are increasing, according to residents. William Mukiibi, a local chairperson of Makerere 2 zone, says most of the dwellers in his zone are hooked on drugs. 

The majority are university students. “Marijuana is not condemned in our communities; if it were, people would have avoided it. Instead, it is praised. Responsible leaders hardly talk about it,” he says.

Where do they come from? 

New Vision has found that some of the processed drugs, such as cocaine, crystal meth and heroin are imported into the country. Miraa and marijuana come from upcountry. 
Some are smuggled in through Lake Victoria. For example, Mpata Kisizi is an island known for growing marijuana, and many businessmen from Kampala are always there to buy and bring it into the city.

Where is the problem?

Student leaders and university chancellors attribute the problem to the ever-growing clubs and bars. These are run by criminally money-minded, hungry gangs around universities. A case in point is one popular dreadlocked musician. 

He operates an illegal store of marijuana and other related drugs in Kikubamutwe, Kabalagala, a suburb of Kampala. Sources blame him for being the one behind the supply of drugs. 

His acts have been highly condemned by local leaders, who think the law is too soft on him. One of the sources says the kingpin uses young boys to vend and procure for his clients, which makes it harder to catch him red-handed.

Causes and way forward 

Makerere University is highly surrounded by many drug hubs, such as the Caltec Academy sports grounds. 

Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the vice-chancellor of Makerere University, says the issue of drug abuse is a national problem since it affects the great minds that would have solved complex problems. 

Nawangwe says this has prompted them not to settle for less and they are teaming up with faith-based organisations to carry out counselling for affected students. 

He says there is a plan to blacklist some hostels. Godfrey Agaba, the guild leader of students at KIU, says some students live in places where drug hubs are located. 

He is of the view that seminars about drug abuse and mental health can hammer the point home.

This story was first published in the New Vision on August 26, 2023.