100-milliliter gins and spirits that were banned by the National Bureau of Standard in 2021. Photo: Curtesy

A youth leader has expressed concern over excessive consumption of alcohol among young men at the Nyakuron East residential area of Juba.

Selwa Juan is the Chairperson of Nyakuron East Indigenous Youth Association.

She says youth ranging from 15-30-years of age are getting wasted there due to extreme intake of alcohol.

Juan alleges that most of them often drink from locally brewed alcohol commonly known as mokoyo or siko in Juba Arabic, which is harmful to their health.

According to Juan, some of them do not even have place to sleep and often shelter along shop corridors at night.

“People are taking a lot of alcohol and you see there is a group of people sleeping outside. If you come at night hours you will find them sleeping at the shop’s doors”, Juan spoke to Eye Radio in Juba over the weekend.

“Honestly some don’t have home where they can sleep and where they can stay but others we followed up with them, we found that they have houses, they have families, they have everything but it is only alcohol that bring them on the street” Juan claims.

She stated that their study also indicate that, poverty and other factors have also driven some to alcohol due to frustration.

In 2016, a research carried out by the Norwegian University Cooperation Programme for Capacity Development in South Sudan, showed that the rate of use of alcohol is high, despite decades of civil war and poverty.

According to the research, lack of regular income and psychological distress were the main risk factors for alcohol abuse in the country.

A week ago, the governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal cautioned young people in the state against excessive consumption of alcohol.

Sarah Cleto said the youth should rather focus on developing their skills to become productive and self-reliant.