GUINNESS gets you going all night or so the Ugandan papers would have you believe. Numerous stories, sandwiched between "Tree Resurrects Itself" and "Mob Kills Suspected Cannibal", are alerting Ugandans to the medicinal and aphrodisiac powers of Ireland's most famous stout.
Guinness known here by its slogan "Guinness for Power" was launched in the capital, Kampala, last March, making Uganda the 48th country to brew the stout.
The publicity campaign moved up country two months ago and has since generated a flurry of news paper articles.
Last month, The Monitor, Uganda's leading independent newspaper, reported that "a long time Mulokole (born again Christian) and medical doctor . . . threw off his pious cloak after discovering the secret of Guinness."
The Mulokole "entered the fully packed hall drinking a soda, but raised eyebrows when he turned to Guinness. After the doctor doused a few bottles . . he got cheers when he announced he had discovered the secret and got free offers of beer from fellow boozers who congratulated him upon joining the club of sinners."
Guinness may corrupt one teetotal 90 year old was reportedly hospitalised after drinking 15 bottles but it is also said to heal, and is known locally as Omululuzza, a remedy for malaria which, with AIDS, is one of the biggest killers in the country.
"Many people no longer go to hospital to treat fever after discovering the Guinness beer cures within hours," wrote the Monitor.
"Those who have discovered the `Guinness' cure say you only need to take one bottle and within a few hours you're back to normal."
Not everyone is convinced, however, as the Monitor reports "Doctors have dismissed the practice. One Dr lsabirya said that those who use Guinness as medicine are just committing suicide as it does not contain any antibiotics. He advised them to seek proper medical treatment rather than getting drunk."
Predictably, the rumours that have roused the greatest interest concern sex. The idea that Guinness bestows staying power gained currency in the 1960s, when it was imported from Kenya. Ex President Idi Amin took power in 1971 and banned Kenyan imports but the stout's reputation lived on.
Baba Pajero, who, with Pole Pole, is one of the two Ugandan columnists to make a living from writing about getting drunk, was the first to remind the nation of the "power" of Guinness.
Sexually weak men, wrote Baba Pajero recently, should "take heart. According to my friend, Pole Pole, Guinness adds to your sexual prowess. It is an aphrodisiac of sorts and gives extra mileage in bed".
However, Pole Pole dismisses this as myth don't believe it, ago, I was drinking a Guinness that had been smuggled from Kenya, and an old man told me that when they were young and they were planning to take a girl out, they'd take a Guinness first."
Are these claims for Guinness true? Chris Stephenson, executive sales manager for Uganda Breweries which produces Guinness, is unwilling to be pinned down.
"I can't confirm or deny them. But the legend that Guinness makes you go all night evolved over 100 years ago and it's spread world wide. Whether it's an old wives tale, or whether it's scientifically true, I know not."
WHATEVER magic qualities Ugandans believe are contained in a small, brown bottle of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout made to a different, stronger recipe than Dublin stout Uganda's Irish expatriate community doesn't share it.
At a reception last year in honour of a visit by the President, Mrs Robinson, Guinness was conspicuously absent from the well stocked bar.
"No Irish people drink Guinness here," said volunteer Maree Daley, nursing a small glass of sherry. "It doesn't taste like Guinness at all."
