No second lockdown relief food plan for Mubende - leaders

Leaders in Mubende District have clarified  that the government has not approved a second relief plan as hundreds appeal for relief intervention, more than a week into the second lockdown.
Speaking to Monitor yesterday, Mr Samuel Ssebuguzi, a taxi driver and a resident of Kirungi Village in Mubende Municipality,  said he is struggling to feed his family.
“The relief food which was supplied to particular categories that lost their jobs under the Mubende Ebola lockdown got finished. We are appealing to the government to consider aiding our respective families with more food since we are jobless,” he said.

Ms Faridah Namuleme, market vendor,  is among the many affected groups that have appealed to the government for extra food.
“My family received maize and beans on October 24 from the government but it could hardly take us for two weeks. I have four dependants that demand daily meals,” she reveals.
In Mubende Municipality, where more than 45,000 jobs are on halt as a result of the extended Ebola lockdown according to the mayor, Mr Innocent Ssekiziyivu, the relief food supplied by the government could not cover every individual under lockdown, but targeted the most vulnerable groups.

“The relief food that included the maize and beans came in phases and we distributed the food in line with the specified guidelines,” he said.
The Resident District Commissioner and the chairperson of the district Ebola task committee, Ms Rosemary Byabashaija, said they received 750 tonnes of maize and 375kg of beans when the government announced the first lockdown on October 15.
The food distribution was not easy since it was delivered in phases due to transportation challenges at the centre.
“We had no plan for a second relief food supply under the second lockdown,” she said. Mubende has not recorded any new case for the past 18 days and believes that the government will soon consider lifting the lockdown.

“Our people should remain calm as we forward the challenges to the responsible government departments,”  Ms Byabashaija said.  
The district Woman MP, Ms Grania Hope Nakazibwe, said  the leadership  has continued to forward the different challenges including the food problem to the relevant government authorities for  possible intervention.
“When we received the relief food items for more than five categories of people, most affected by the first 21-day lockdown, we did not anticipate that the lockdown would be extended for another period. That is the challenge that the people of Mubende and their leaders are trying to overcome,” she said.

On Wednesday, the district Ebola taskforce informed the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng that the District had not recorded any new confirmed Ebola case for the last 18 days.  The number of admitted cases had reduced to only one at the Mubende Hospital.
“We are happy to inform the Ministry of Health and the visiting partners that we are doing well at the Ebola Treatment Unit. We pray that when the 21-day lockdown elapses, the government should lift the lockdown,” Ms Byabasaija said.
The district has registered a cumulative Ebola recovery of 41 patients while the cumulative deaths stand at 29 by Wednesday.