Kampala — THE Pader district council has started taxing sh10,000 on each jerrican of a local brew commonly called waragi.

The move was attributed to the increased crime rates in the district.

The district chairman, Peter Odok W'Ocheng, said they had netted 250 jerricans of waragi as it was being transported to Torit in southern Sudan.

He said increasing the price of waragi discouraged people from drinking.

"We are doing this to control the rates of consumption of crude waragi which is poisonous. Many lives in the district have been claimed by this crude waragi," W'Ocheng said.

The resident district commissioner, Santo Okot Lapolo, on Saturday said before they regulated the sale of waragi, domestic violence, assault and theft were high at all Police units.

Lapolo said over-drinking crude waragi was making many men impotent and unproductive.

He said the sub-county leaders had been directed to impound or collect taxes from anybody selling or transporting waragi in their area.

He, however, blamed the leaders for mismanaging the taxes.