"ATAYA bases" are to Sierra Leone what Starbucks and its ilk are to Western countries. The makeshift cafés are everywhere on the dusty streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. They serve "ataya", or strong, hot tea, to a mainly young and male clientele. Nor is it just Sierra Leone: such tea houses are popular throughout much of West Africa.
So it came as something of a surprise when Sierra Leone's leading psychiatrist mentioned to Baobab that tea addiction was becoming a serious threat to society. Edward Nahim, who has been working with Sierra Leone's ministry of health for over 40 years, sees growing numbers of young people becoming dependent on the bitter-sweet "gunpowder tea". The caffeine-heavy brew “is a very strong stimulant,” he explains. Dr Nahim wants lawmakers to limit consumption of the beverage. Patients have been coming to see him with ataya-induced psychotic disorders, he says, and the problem is getting worse.
Abu, who sells ataya on a street corner near the main government building in Freetown, grins widely as he tells Baobab of the excesses of a handful of his customers. “Some people drink eight or ten cups a day” he says. “Those people will take ataya wherever they go. If they don’t have it, they must find it”.
Besides any addictive qualities the brew might possess, Dr Nahim sees a direct link between the proliferation of ataya bases in Freetown and the chronic shortage of jobs in Sierra Leone. “The unemployment among youths is what leads them to drug abuse, not only with ataya. Because out of boredom they have to entertain themselves,” he explains.
