Hon. Frank Habineza Says Rwanda Was Late to Act on Substandard Alcohol.

Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) began cracking down on the production, sale and consumption of substandard alcoholic beverages on August 2, 2026, as the government intensified efforts to remove the products from the market. 

The crackdown followed growing concerns over the health effects of the drinks. Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said that more than 50 people had died between January and July 2026 after consuming the beverages, while more than 500 others had sought medical treatment. Some of those affected reportedly suffered permanent loss of sight.

Explaining the scale of the problem, Nsanzimana said: 

“From January to the end of July, we saw more than 500 people come for treatment after drinking these alcoholic beverages. They came seriously ill, vomiting, suffering from diarrhoea, others had lost their sight, while some were carried on stretchers after coming from weddings or other events. When you followed up, you found that these cases were linked to the alcoholic beverages that people were mixing.”

He added: 

“We also lost more than 50 people, but we went deeper and asked ourselves whether there were people who had not lost their lives or fallen sick enough to go to hospital, but who were slowly dying. They are there. We have counted more than 10,000, almost 11,000 people, who have become dependent on alcohol across the country. Those are the people we know about; they are only a few compared with the many others. Eleven thousand people means people who are constantly drunk.” 

In an interview with KPMedia, Hon. Frank Habineza said the government should have acted earlier because the issue had repeatedly been brought to the attention of authorities while he was serving as a Member of Parliament. 

He said he first encountered the problem during visits to Nyagatare and Gatsibo, where residents told lawmakers about locally produced alcoholic drinks that were causing deaths and other health problems. 

“When I was still a Member of Parliament, I was on the committee responsible for social affairs. We visited citizens very often, and we also raised these issues in different forums in Parliament. The first place where I encountered it was when I went to Nyagatare and Gatsibo. People told us about alcoholic drinks called Muriture, Umumanurajipo and others. We included it in our reports because citizens were telling us, ‘These drinks are killing us; they are wiping us out.’ Citizens had been raising this issue for a long time, saying that alcohol was killing people, and we also summoned ministers and told them about it,” he said.

Hon. Frank Habineza said the issue was repeatedly documented in parliamentary reports and raised with government officials. 

“The government had actually taken too long to take action because, if you look at reports by MPs and other reports that were produced, this issue had been highlighted extensively. I am not saying that other institutions did not see it, but as representatives of the people, we represent citizens. They repeatedly brought this issue to us and told us that it was affecting them,” he said.

He said the problem was not limited to Nyagatare and Gatsibo, and that he continued to encounter similar complaints even after becoming a senator.

During a visit to Shyira in Nyabihu earlier this year, Hon. Frank Habineza said residents again told him about locally produced drinks being sold under unusual names.

“I went to Shyira in Nyabihu this year, when I had already become a senator, and residents told us about it again. They had alcoholic drinks that were given names we were not familiar with. There was one they called Sabasaba. They did not even know what Sabasaba meant. Sabasaba is a gun that Nyerere used against Idi Amin Dada, causing him to flee the country and lose power. It was a powerful gun, but that Sabasaba had been turned into an alcoholic drink in Nyabihu. They had very bad names,”he testifies.

Although Hon. Frank Habineza believes the government acted too late, he welcomed the decision to ban the substandard alcoholic beverages, saying the products had put people's lives at risk.

He also called on Rwanda FDA and the Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) to conduct continuous inspections of factories licensed to produce alcoholic beverages.

Hon. Frank Habineza warned that some manufacturers could present products that meet required standards when seeking licences and later produce beverages that do not meet those standards once they are operating.

He said this was an area that required stronger and more regular oversight to ensure that products reaching consumers remained compliant with safety requirements.

Hon. Frank Habineza also called on the government to consider supporting large-scale traders and distributors who had stocked the banned alcoholic beverages.

He argued that some of these traders may not have knowingly committed an offence because they had purchased the products from factories that appeared to have valid licences and legal documentation. 

“These traders, whether they were depot owners, wholesalers or others, I would not accuse them of any crime because they bought from a licensed factory that showed it had the required documents. They were simply doing business. The traders are not at fault,” he said.

He proposed that the government consider establishing a support mechanism to compensate affected traders, similar to existing assistance schemes for people affected by accidents or damage caused by wildlife, as well as measures used during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“What we would ask is that the government consider, just as we have a support fund that assists people who have accidents or those whose property is damaged by animals from national parks, establishing something similar for these traders. As was done during Covid, these traders should also be reimbursed for their money because if we do not do that, we may find that the number of poor people in the country has increased, even though these traders had already worked their way out of poverty,” he added. 

Hon. Frank Habineza also urged the Ministry of Health to establish a nationwide programme to screen people who have consumed ibyuma and other similar substandard alcoholic beverages. 

He said some people may not have experienced immediate or severe symptoms but could still have suffered damage to vital organs such as the kidneys or liver. 

“What I would ask the Ministry of Health is to establish a programme to examine everyone who has consumed ibyuma. It would be good to establish a system through which they can be screened at health centres and elsewhere to determine whether these alcoholic beverages have caused any harm to them,” he said. 

He added:

“Anyone who has consumed ibyuma or something similar should be examined first so that they know the state of their health. You may not be among those included in the figures released by the Ministry of Health, but you could find that these alcoholic beverages have affected your kidneys or liver. It would be good for those who have not shown obvious effects to also receive basic medical care.”

The crackdown has also been addressed by President Paul Kagame, who said on August 24 that the government decided to ban the drinks after it became clear that they were killing large numbers of people within a short period.

“It is not a matter of saying that only two people died today and another died tomorrow. No. Twenty, 30 or 50 people were dying, and at times nearly 100 people died in a single day. If you put together the number of people who have died in a year, you can understand how many people that is,” he said. 

Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) has arrested people suspected of involvement in the production and distribution of substandard alcoholic beverages, including factory owners and employees, local government officials and officials from regulatory institutions. Recent RIB operations have also targeted employees of Rwanda FDA and RSB.

Rwanda FDA Director General Emile Bienvenu was among 18 officials presented by RIB and Rwanda National Police on August 13. Ten of the suspects were Rwanda FDA employees, while others included RSB officials and local government officials. The suspects are being investigated over alleged offences connected to the regulation, certification and distribution of substandard alcoholic beverages.