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Mubende locals, leaders protest fresh lockdown
Residents of Kyijaguzi in Madudu Sub-county, Mubende District, during sensitisation about Ebola by health officials last week. PHOTO/MINISTRY OF HEALTH
What you need to know:
- Locals accuse the Ministry of Health officials of failing to advise the President about their plight.
A section of Mubende District leaders and residents have protested the government’s three-week extension of the Ebola-induced lockdown.
Although some leaders admitted that the earlier lockdown had reduced confirmed cases in Mubende, they said the government should consider the plight of the jobless groups.
“The extension of the lockdown was expected but we would have wished for relaxation of guidelines as was the case during the Covid-19 lockdown,” Mr Michael Ntambi Muhereza, the district chairperson, said at the weekend.
“The challenge with the new lockdown is that there are no relaxed guidelines yet we have thousands of residents that were rendered jobless by the past lockdown. I pray that they are revised to give a lifeline to our people,” he added.
Residents blame the government for failing to appreciate the challenges brought about by the stringent restrictions on transport.
Ms Amina Nalwadda, a resident of West Division in Mubende Municipality, accused the Ministry of Health officials and a section of the district leadership of failing to advise the President about their plight.
“Our families are almost starving because of the strict lockdown guidelines. The boda boda cyclists should be allowed to carry a passenger while the taxis carry at least six passengers,” she said.
Mr Eric Kyeyune, a member of the Mubende District Boda Boda Cyclists Association executive committee, said their industry is one of the most affected sectors by the extended lockdown.
While the government allowed the boda boda cyclists to carry cargo, they are largely used by passengers that need quick means.
“We have more than 40,000 boda boda cyclists that are affected. We should be allowed to carry one passenger with close supervision by both the law enforcers and the district authorities,” he said.
The Resident District Commissioner and chairperson of the Ebola taskforce, Ms Rosemary Byabashaija, called for calm.
“It is good that most of our people appreciate that the past lockdown is the reason for the reduction in the number of Ebola positive cases. As the district taskforce, we shall have to forward the many challenges raised to the high authorities,” she said.
Ms Byabashaija said the district has registered only three positive cases in the last seven days.
Government declared the first lockdown in Mubende and Kassanda on October 15 as part of the mitigation measures to contain the spread of the Ebola disease. Districts that are high risk areas are Mubende, Kassanda, Kampala, Wakiso, Kyegegwa, Kagadi, and Bunyangabu.
Kassanda rdc welcomes lockdown
Ms Phoebe Namulindwa, the Kassanda Resident District Commissioner, welcomed the new lockdown. “Our past record in handling the Ebola pandemic was not very good. Some of our leaders and a section of the residents failed to follow the guidelines,” she said.
Recently, the Ministry of Health raised a red flag over Kassanda after it registered a surge in Ebola cases. Some of the cases were attributed to an incident where unidentified people exhumed remains of one of the Ebola victims at Kitongo Village in Kalwana Sub-county.
