42 days of lockdown are ticking away as the population grows anxious.

President Yoweri Museveni announced 42 days of lockdown in the country to ease the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Appearing on NBS TV political show Frontline, the government mouthpiece, Chris Baryomunsi, said that discussions are going on about the 42 days of lockdown but the population should not expect so much.

Decision time

Dr. Baryomunsi who is also the Minister for Information, Communications Technology and National Guidance, said: “We are on a countdown, about a week remaining on the lockdown. Where we are now, we can’t say open and everything goes to normal. We are still discussing but you shouldn’t expect full opening.”

Vaccination

The government mouthpiece also guided the population on the ongoing confusion on where to get vaccination.

He urged: “The Ministry of Health says there are designated areas where vaccination is free, then you go somewhere else and pay UGX 200,000 and get injected with water. Who do you blame?”

Dr. Baryomunsi dismissed allegations by leader of opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga that the population is reserved about Covid-19.

He shot down: “I hear Mpuuga saying the public is not happy with government. #COVID19 was not brought by government. It is time we put our heads together to bring a solution.”

Museveni on vaccines

While launching the World Health Summit Regional Meeting at Speke Resort Munyonyo, President Yoweri Museveni said the government is putting more emphasis on vaccination.

Museveni said: “We know that the ultimate solution to COVID-19 lies in vaccinating all our people. The government, with the help of the African Union and other partners, will fast-track the acquisition of sufficient dozes of vaccines to cover the entire population.”

He added: “Alongside efforts to develop our own vaccine, we are continuing to talk with India, the USA for the Johnson-Johnson vaccine, China and Cuba. Meanwhile, the age-old cures that kept our forefathers disease-free must be given attention to improve on them and preserve their use.”

Minister of Health appreciation

Minister of health Dr. Ruth Jane Achieng Ocero has observed that there is a downward trend in Covid-19 cases in the country but cautions the population to continue to follow the SOPs.

Dr. Achieng tweeted on 42 days: “I would like to appreciate Ugandans who have been resilient and proactive in observing SOPs and we are beginning to see a gentle down trend in the current upsurge. I want to caution Ugandans NOT to get complacent. We must remain active in following the SOPs.”

Opposition Protest

The leader of opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga who also appeared on the Frontline show protested that government did not work in consultation with different players including the opposition.

Mpuuga’s position

We have a fair understanding of the state craft and actually know how this regime runs. When we rise to speak to a matter, we by and large consider what will work. It’s not because I’m LOP but I need to see MPs properly facilitated and Services delivered.

The Gov’t has turned COVID19 into a regime thing, they never wanted to share anything with us. When we were debating the 2021/22 budget, we asked, “Is this a normal budget for a country going facing a pandemic?” We didn’t prepare for COVID.

The population is questioning Gov’t priorities in the Health sector. In 2014, they launched the National Ambulance service system but since its launch, that component remains unfunded. We have a virus & a Gov’t behaving like a virus.

I don’t know why the Gov’t thought that COVID19 was their thing to beef up their security. The priorities of this Gov’t are elsewhere; that is why the epicenter of COVID19 was situated in State House.

The institutions that are supposed to manage COVID don’t hv money yet we voted to them but it hasn’t been availed eg we offered $18m for COVID vaccines.

Probably Baryomunsi Chris will tell me why they saved the $13m and only paid $5m to the COVID vaccines manufacturers yet the money was provided instantly. We have the perspective of the reluctance of gov’t to do certain things & there4, we don’t make proposals for the sake of it.

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