NEWS EDITOR

LOCAL investor Hamis Kiggundu, owner of Ham Enterprises (U) Ltd, Ham International UK Ltd in the United Kingdom, Ham International Ltd in the US and Skylight Investments in South Africa is indeed a good hearted man! 

In response to Preasident Museveni’s appeal to different organisations to join government and feed the needy during this Covid-19 lockdown, this youngest tycoon in Uganda has handed to Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda UGX 100M to buy food, soap and other basic necessities to bail out people who don’t have what to eat.

Handing over UGX 100M to Dr. Rugunda in the presence of NRM ruling Party Secretary General Rt. Hon. Justine Kasule Lumumba and other political leaders at a function held at Prime ministe’s office, 35 years old powerful businessman Hamis Kiggundu said, “I have come to answer the appeal of H.E the President of buying food for our brothers and sisters, for the elderly who don’t have what to eat yet they are supposed to stay in their homes as we all fight Covid 19 pandemic. Sir, receive UGX 100M in cash to buy them food and other basic necessities.”

A happy looking Prime minister Rugunda thanked Tycoon Hamis Kiggundu for being an exemplary local investor and called upon others to be like this youngman. 

Speaking to The News Editor Online Dr. Rugunda who heads Covid-19 Task force said, “As Uganda government, we salute City businessman Hamis Kiggundu for being a selfless citizen. He has joined the government in feeding Ugandans. He is a very good man and his type is rare to find. Let others act like him if we are to defeat Corona virus.”

Hamis, through Ham Foundation has been very instrumental in fighting Covid-19.

He recently posted on his facebook page that: End Coronavirus, join the ‘collective national effort’ and stay at home to stay safe. When cleaning use your usual household products, like detergents & bleach, as these will be effective at getting rid of the virus on surfaces. Clean frequently touched surfaces such as handles, handrails, remote controls &  table tops. May Allah bless us, our Motherland Uganda, Humanity and the World at large.

A reknown generous youngman, a few days ago, Haji Hamis Kiggundu under his charity organisation Ham Foundation donated Bicycles, Qurans and Prayer Mats to all the Masaka Greater district Sheiks and Imams at Masaka golf course.

Early this year, Hamis Kiggundu was hosted by Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II at Hana International School Uganda, during the closure of Ekisakaate 2020.

Ham addressed Kabaka Mutebi, Nabagereka Sylivia Nagginda, Premier Charles Peter Mayiga and over 3000 delegates who attended this mega function. Thismagnificent school is owned by Kiggundu family.

Kabaka and Ham later had a one on one discussion. 

To starters, this youngest billionaire wrote a motivational book of the year entitled: ‘SUCCESS AND FAILURE BASED ON REASON AND REALITY’. A book full of realistic ideas about business and development. 

Unlike other successful tycoons, Hamis Kiggundu decided to share his personal experience in his book. It was recently adopted into the National Curriculum by the National Curriculum Development Centre.

Ham is the owner of a number of commecial buildings in Kampala like Ham Shopping  mall, he is also putting up a state-of-the art stadium at Nakivubo.

He is a very approchable, humble and down to earth youngman. 

NEWS EDITOR

THE ever busy and congested Kampala Capital City is totally empty, all roads demarcated, arcades closed and roadblocks planted on all major roads to make sure President Museveni’s new directives given yesternight in a war against Covid 19 pandemic, are effected!

A few cars can be seen moving on roads (ofcourse with permission) and those without permission are towed away by security men who are armed to the teeth!

The Parliament is closed, heavy deployment can be seen everywhere, Hotels in Kampala are empty and surprisingly non of the  beggars who have been sleeping on the streets can be traced.

Kisekka market, the reknown Benghazi where city riots start is as quiet a street grave yard, Kikuubo business centre is locked, taxi parks are clean. You can in fact say, Kampala has gone to sleep.

Apart from Nakasero, Owino produce side, Kasubi, Nakulabye, Kireka and markets dealing in foodstuffs, others are closed. A few people are seen walking on roads, some riding bicycles and very few bodabodas. Attendants at different Petrol stations are idle and so are those in Kampala Central supermarkets.

This situation is expected to go on  like this until President Museveni lifts the lockdown.

During yesterday’s Presidential address, a tough speaking Museveni ordered that, “The ban on privately owned passenger vehicles will take effect from 22:00 hours (yesterday night), the 30th of March, 2020.”

“I would have given the public time to adjust but on more scientific study, it was found that this would be a wrong policy. Why? A longer time would give people time to try and go to the villages.” Said the president, adding, “In so doing, they may transfer the sickness. We, would, then, not be curing anything. This freezing of movement will last 14 days from the 1st of April, 2020. This time it is not Fool’s Day; it is wise-person’s Day.”

On the issue of supplying food to the hungry mostly done by opposition People Power politicians, President Museveni ordered it to stop hence forth calling them opportunists who must be arrested and charged with attempted murder.

He said, “The Government anti-Corona-virus actions of stopping public transport and other measures have put the drivers and other people out of work. Besides, many of them live hand to mouth, the daily bread.” “Without those activities, especially in the towns, such people may not be able to buy food. The Government, after properly identifying these people will distribute food to them in the form of akahuunga (maize flour), beans, powder milk, sugar, salt, etc.” Stated Mr. Museveni.

He directed Police in the meantime, “To arrest the opportunistic and irresponsible politicians who try to distribute food for cheap popularity. Those are very dangerous to the health of the people.”

“When you try to distribute food or money in such a situation, people gather around you. Many people can be infected in that process. You will, therefore, have caused the sickness or death of those people. Anybody involved in that effort will be arrested and charged with attempted murder.” So ordered the President.

PEOPLE POWER REACT

Speaking to News Editor Online today morning, Hon. Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi’s blue eyed boy Aloysius Mukasa the 2021 Lubaga South MP hopeful said by People Power feeding the hungry they do not seek for any cheap popularity because the wave is already popular and will dominate all elective positions come the General elections.

“People Power represents Ugandans who are marginalised, who are jobless, whose land is grabbed by the well to do, who cant manage two meals a day, Ugandans who are arrested on concocted charges, those who are fighting for their rights and rule of law.” Aloysius Mukasa went on to ask, “Now cheap popularity over what? Our people pay huge taxes but at such a moment, they are forgotten to die of hunger before even Coronavirus reaches their doorsteps. What is the problem with sharing the little we have? We will in fact do the same if People Power takes over National power. We will eat together, we will share services.”

Read also:

https://www.newseditor.co.ug/2020/03/28/benevolent-heart-mp-luttamaguzi-give-away-200-bunches-of-matooke-100m-to-feed-hungry-bodaboda-riders-taxi-drivers/

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI’S FULL STATEMENT 

Countrymen and countrywomen

I am here, to again address you on the issue of the corona-virus. I first, addressed you on this issue on the 18th of March, 2020. Before I addressed you, together with the experts, we had discussed, in depth, the science of this virus. In that study, we had discovered the following characteristics of this virus.

1. It spreads through inhalation if somebody with the virus coughs (okukororra) or sneezes (okwetsyamura) near you ? within four metres from you. It will, then, infect you through the inhalation of the rwooya (vapour) of the sick person that would have coughed or sneezed.
2. The second mode of spreading is when the infected person pollutes surfaces such as tables, door handles, etc. If you touch the polluted surface and, then, touch yourself in the soft parts of the body: eyes, nose or mouth, you also get infected. The virus cannot go through the normal, intact skin of a human being. It only goes through the soft parts mentioned above.
3. Although the healthy people afflicted may survive, it can kill alot of people that already have other medical conditions such as Aids, blood-pressure, pregnancy, diabetes, sickle-cells, cancer, the elderly, etc. In China, its kill rate was 4.05%. In Italy its now 11.03% and Spain, its kill rate is now 8.4%. It even kills the young people in some circumstances, like the young doctor, Li Wenliang, of Wuhan in China, who first identified this problem. He was only 33 years old.

Given its spread methods ? sneezing and coughing by an inconsiderate and careless person in a cluster of people bunched together as well as an individual’s own carelessness of touching the soft parts of your body (the eyes, the nose and the mouth) without washing your hands or sanitizing them first, after careful study, we decided that this virus will spread fastest if it gets into large concentrations of people, some of whom may be behaving inconsiderately or carelessly as stated above. We, therefore, adopted the strategy of dispersing any concentration that may provide fuel to this virus.

In my address of the 18th of March, 2020, I put out 13 actions that dealt with this problem, in part, as well as other associated matters. The 13 measures were:

(1) Close all the Educational Institutions which accounted for 15 million young Ugandans;

(2) Suspend communal prayers in Mosques, Churches or in Stadia and other open air venues;

(3) Stop all public political rallies, cultural gatherings or conferences;

(4) Banned Ugandans from moving to or through category one (I) countries that had had a large number of corona cases by that time;

(5) We allowed returning Ugandans provided they underwent mandatory quarantine, at their cost, for 14 days at a venue identified by the Ministry of Health;

(6) We allowed the non-agricultural gathering points to continue but with SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) put out by the Ministry of Health; and these gathering points were: factories, hotels, large plantations, markets, taxi-parks, etc.;

(7) We discouraged the hexagonal, extravagant Ugandan-style weddings; if in a hurry, we encouraged the couples to go for the scientific weddings by the actual stakeholders, accompanied by a few people;

(8) Burials could not be postponed, but it should be for a few people ? the concerned homestead;

(9) With the 33 million farmers, according to the 2014 census, there was no problem because they are dispersed in their farms, plantations, etc.; the only issues to deal with here were the monthly or weekly cattle auction markets (ebikomera); and obutare (food markets); these were suspended;

(10) At that time, we thought that we could continue with the public transport systems of buses, mini-buses, taxis, boda-bodas, etc., provided they were given SOPs;

(11) The discos, dances, bars, sports, music shows, cinemas and concerts were all suspended;

(12) Number 12 was hygiene and enlightened (not kikafiri behavior ) behaviours of not coughing or sneezing in public, no spitting, washing with soap and water or using sanitizers, regularly disinfecting surfaces such as tables, door handles, etc. and not touching your eyes, nose or mouth with contaminated and unwashed hands; and

(13) Ended with nutrition to strengthen the body defence system.

We quickly, however, learnt that some of the actors were not obeying these measures and that, for instance, the returnees from abroad, from the high risk countries, were escaping from the quarantine even when it was mandatory. The ones in self-quarantine were also escaping, e.g. the Chinese that were arrested on the Congo boarder, in Zombo or the returnee from Kisumu that is the father of the Iganga baby that turned up positive that went into hiding. These gaps could cause us serious problems.
These gaps were undermining the strategy of denying the virus the fuel that it could ignite and sustain its expansion by ensuring that there is no match-box and there is no dry grass ? no virus and no concentrated masses. Therefore, on the 25th of March, 2020, on the 41st Anniversary of the battle of Rugaando, I announced two new measures:

1. Stopped all passengers coming into Uganda by air, land or water; this affected in-coming planes, buses, taxis or boats;
2. Also prohibited from entry were the pedestrians ? people walking on foot from the neighbouring countries.

In all these measures, we were careful to clearly state that cargo planes and cargo vehicles, within Uganda and between Uganda and the outside, should continue with only the crews for the air-crafts and 3 persons per cargo vehicle.

Then, on the 21st of March, 2020, we announced additional measures as follows:

All public passenger transport vehicles are stopped and those were: taxis, coasters, buses, passenger trains, tuk-tuks (tri-cycles) and bodabodas;

Secondly, in order to scale down the numbers of the populations in the markets, we announced that only food sellers should remain in the markets; the non-food sellers should suspend their activities.

However, private vehicles could continue but with only 3 people maximum per vehicle. However, ambulances, army vehicles, garbage collection vehicles, etc., would continue.

Since that time, we have been monitoring the situation. It was good we took all these measures. However, there are still windows through which the virus can continue to spread. As of today, the 30th of March, 2020, 31 Ugandans and 2 Chinese have been confirmed as being positive with the virus.
Almost all of them are imported cases by Ugandans returning from mainly Dubai (UAE), Europe, the USA and Afghanistan. Only 3 are the ones that received it from the importers. These are: the wife and daughter of the Masaka man and the baby from Iganga whose father had returned from Kisumu in Kenya. Out of the 33, the number of eight (8) were intercepted at Entebbe, in the quarantine or, even, at the airport, like the case number one, who was detected by the temperature monitor and another 7 that were first identified by the temperature monitoring system. This means that 14 out of the 33 had already entered the ekibuga (city, town), the lujja (compound) and some had even entered omuunju ? munyuumba (inside the house) since we did not detect them at the Eireembo (the main entrance) or they escaped from the Eishaazi ? the holding ground ? by escaping from the quarantine. How many other Ugandans did they interact closely with to infect them? That is what we need to discover and soonest. It is good that those who start feeling the symptoms report themselves, like the case from Hoima did. However, this disease has two characteristics that make the work of fighting it tedious and quite challenging and need maximum vigilance.
One characteristic is that some of the infected people may not feel sick and may not even know that they are infected. Yet, they will continue spreading the disease, of course, through the carelessness of the general population of, for instance, polluting surfaces and touching oneself in the soft parts of one’s body: the eyes, the nose and the mouth; and sitting very close to one another even if the infected person is not coughing. After further careful analysis, we have come to the conclusion that to be on the safe side, it is better we err on the side of caution than to wait for a possible situation like of some countries where a 1,000 people are dying per day from this disease.

The second characteristic of this virus is that those that are infected, even when they survive, they take long in the hospital. In China, one case took 2 months. This has caused the filling up of all the hospital places even in the countries with advanced medical systems, until a situation where the medical authorities have to decide on who should be allowed to die and who should not.

Therefore, with these cases that had entered in the house, we should not wait for that situation. Incidentally, we now have under quarantine, a total of 839 persons. Even those that are alleged to have escaped from the quarantine, have all come back. How many people had they interacted with and how careless are they with the sitting close to one another and with the carelessly touching their soft parts? We, therefore, think that there is less risk in taking the risk of the bitter medicine of maximum restrictions for a limited time than gambling by assuming that pollution was limited when we are not absolutely sure. Since we started this campaign of sensitization, if everybody listened by not coughing and sneezing near other people, by not sitting too close to one another when the infected person has got no symptoms and by not carelessly touching oneself in the soft parts, the cases that entered into the house would not have spread the disease. The question, however, is: “Did all our people listen?”

That is why it is better not to take any risk by being complacent and assuming that everybody took heed when many may have not taken heed. That is why we have decided to take additional measures as follows:

1. Measure number one is to prohibit all people to people movement by everybody including those using their private vehicles, bodabodas, tuk-tuks, etc. Why? Two reasons: (i) some private car owners have turned their cars into taxis, transporting the two people we had permitted, assuming that they would be members of one’s family, when in fact they were passengers being charged the exorbitant fare of shillings 50,000/- from Kampala to Jinja. Hence, the problem we were trying to cure of allowing the mixing of people from different sources was not being addressed. Instead, it was taking new forms. The people with private cars were now the new public transporters without licences and facilitating the dangerous mixing in the process. Secondly, even more importantly, even if the private car owners had been disciplined and only moved around with only the 2 members of their families, still that movement would be dangerous because we do not know who has the virus now and who does not, given the penetration of the imported cases into the society, short-lived though it may have been.
2. The second category of concentrations are the shopping malls, arcades, hardware shops, which gather alot of people to sell and buy non-food items. These are suspended for 14 days starting with the 1st of April, 2020.
3. All the non-food shops (stores) should also close. Only food stores, stores selling agricultural products, veterinary products, detergents and pharmaceuticals should remain open. The Ministry of Health should work out SOPs for those stores. Many people should not be allowed to congregate there and form lines to buy. Home deliveries should, instead, be encouraged.
4. The Super-markets should remain open but with clear SOPs that should restrict numbers that enter and leave the site at a given time and the handling of trolleys within the super-markets. Alot of people can be infected by handling the unsterilized trolleys within the super-markets.
5. The established Food Markets in Kampala and the other towns should continue to be open. However, two precautions must be observed. One, the distance of four metres to the front, to the left, to the right and to the rear ? between seller and buyer and also seller and seller must be observed in all the markets. Secondly, the sellers must not go home during the 14 days. They must arrange to stay nearby for that duration. That movement between workplace to home and back, is part of the problem. How are the people you left at home and how do you move to work if there is no public transport? It is that mixing that we want to freeze ? between home, enroute and workplace. Be in only one place for 14 days and we see what is happening.
6. Saloons, Lodges and garages should also be shut for 14 days from the 1st of April, 2020.
7. Like the farms, we would like the factories to keep producing because that is the life-blood of the country. However, the danger is in the workers going home and coming back. It is that daily movement that must be frozen. Let the factory owners arrange for the crucial employees to camp around the factory area for the 14 days. If they cannot do that, let them suspend production for 14 days.
8. Construction sites should continue if they can be able to encamp their workers for 14 days. Otherwise, they should suspend construction for the 14 days.
9. The essential services are: the medical, veterinary, telephones, door-to-door delivery, Banks, Private Security companies, cleaning services, garbage collection, fire-brigade, petrol stations, water departments and some KCCA staff should continue to operate. URA should also not close business on account of not paying taxes in these 14 days.
   These employers should, however, see whether they can encamp some staff near the workplace for the 14 days, which is the preferred way, or else get a special exemption from the RDC with the concurrence of the District Medical Officer.
10. Cargo transport by train, plane, lorry, pick-up, tuku-tukus, bodaboda and bicycle, within Uganda and between Uganda and the outside, must continue but only with minimum numbers, technically needed as follows: Cargo ? Air-craft ? only the crew; Lorry ? not more than 3 persons i.e. driver, tonne-boy plus one, etc., as will be directed by the Ministry of Transport, working with the National Task Force on the Corona virus.
11. Gatherings of more than 5 persons are hereby prohibited.
12. Except for cargo planes, lorries, pick-ups and trains, starting with the 31st of March, 2020, at 1900 hours (Saa Moja ya Usiku), there will be a curfew throughout the whole of Uganda. All other movements should stop. Let people stay in-doors in their homes except for the cargo-transporters. The exemption of cargo transporters does not apply to the bodabodas, tukutukus or bicycles in the curfew hours. Those should only operate during daylight hours.
13. In order to deal with some unavoidable health issues like mothers in child birth or very sick people, permission can be sought from the RDC to use private transport to take such a person to hospital. Additionally, government vehicles that do not belong to UPDF, Police, Prisons or UWA, will be pooled and deployed at the District Health Offices, including the divisions of Kampala, with their drivers, staying in tented compounds, ready to help in those health emergencies. Those vehicles will be under the command of the District Medical Officer.
14. On account of this pandemic, some sectors of the economy are suffering, such as the tourism industry, the entertainment industry, the transport industry, etc. However, as I said earlier, new opportunities are emerging in this misfortune. You have seen how the demand for sanitizers, face masks, bicycles, etc., has stimulated new industrial opportunities.
    Working with the IMF and the World Bank, we shall set up a fund in UDB to accelerate industrialization through import-substitution and export promotion. You have seen how dangerous it is for Africa to excessively depend on imports from outside. This is the time to wake-up.
15. We are going to discuss with Banks, electricity companies and water companies in connection with the loans and bills, many people have with these units. It is not correct to disconnect water or electricity on account of non-payment during this time of shutdown or to seize properties on account of the non-payment of loans.
16. Government workers should also stay at home for the 14 days, except for the Army, the Police, the Health workers, the Electricity, Water and Telephone workers. Even there, however, SOPs should be worked out for the soldiers, etc., that do not stay in the barracks. This problem of not staying near the workplace is something I have never supported.
    At one time, I wanted to shift and stay in Lubiri when it was still a barracks. The Army leaders, that time, pacified me by turning both Nakasero and Entebbe into barracks, including taking over Nsamizi Hill. People who do not stay in barracks, should either stay away for the duration of the shut down or camp in the barracks. The families of the soldiers and policemen should also be controlled moving in and out of the barracks should be suspended and so should the visitors. Otherwise, we can have a major outbreak in the barracks. The vehicles of the Army, Police, ambulances utilities’ vehicles, Prisons, UWA, etc., will continue to move on orders of the competent authorities.

 Today, Mr. Elumelu sent me US$150,000. I will use it to buy, may be, three (3) four-wheel drive vehicles to use, by the Ministry of Health to use in this effort. Those trying to take patients to hospitals, must also stop because they spread the virus in the process. If they have money, let them contribute it to the Task Force to use in a disciplined and safe way. In Mbale, the Chinese donated to me two four-wheel drive Jeeps. I have donated these to the Task Force of the anti-corona virus.

However, the crucial point is the stopping of the epidemic. I do not want us to lose millions of our vulnerable people to this wholly avoidable epidemic just on account of indiscipline. What is the indiscipline?
Coughing or sneezing where there are other people; not washing or sanitizing your hands regularly; touching yourself in the soft parts of the body with unwashed hands, the soft parts being the eyes, the nose and the mouth; and congregating in numbers when science is telling us to avoid this wholly avoidable danger, disperse and do not congregate.

The idea, a Sheikh sent to me the verse from Isaiah, Chapter 26: Verse 20. It says: “Go home my people and lock your doors! Hide yourselves for a little while until the lord’s anger has passed.”

NEWS EDITOR

A FEW hours to the presidential address yesterday evenning, a group of Kasero angry residents in Kasero -Buloba, Wakiso district forcefully chased a member of Watoto Ministries out of their village after being tipped off by an insider that he was confirmed to be a Covid-19 victim confined in the premises of this Pentecostal Church.

Lead by Pastor Gary Skinner, Watoto Church is an English speaking cell-based community church located around East Africa and headquartered in Kampala, Uganda with many branches.

According to their vision, they say are celebrating Christ, growing and multiplying as each one reaches one, touching those around them with the love of Jesus, bringing healing to the cities and the nations. Watoto is a Swahiri word meaning ‘the children’ in Swahiri.

Kirimamboga-Kasero area LC 1 Chairman one Solomon Ssebayiga who in vain cooled down the angry residents, later sided with them, Watoto Church was asked to find another place for their patient, not this village.

“They have finally succumbed to the community pressure, and whisked away their patient.” Chairman Solmon Ssebayiga told the News Editor Online.

Shouting at the top of their voices and making an alarm to whoever cared, residents had vowed to set ablaze Watoto Church premises if they dont take away their Covid-19 patient.

This patient was allegedly sneaked into this village from Entebbe quarantine instead of being taken to Mulago or Entebbe grade B hospitals as stipulated by the government.

At first, Watoto Ministries, formerly Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) thought the residents were joking until the number of demonstrators increased and vowed not to leave the premises until the patient was evacuated.

Within a few minutes, an ambulance from Kampala arrived with masked medical officials who picked the victim from a well guarded Watoto premises and took him to an unknown destination. 

After overpowering Watoto Church, residents started jubilating saying, “God is good, now the virus carrier who we feared would infect infect others in the community  has been evacuated.”

DETAILS

Insiders say, on return from a tour in Europe, a group of members from Watoto Ministries were among those confined for 14 days in Entebbe and one of them tested postive for Covid-19.

Watoto ministries however opted to isolate their member and get  him medication at the Watoto Elderly home in Kasero, Buloba Wakiso district instead of keeping him at a medical facility as earlier guided by the government. 

On delivering him to these premises, onlookers say, two ambulances came with masked medical personnel escorted by a convoy of cars. Alot of activity was going on at a home that had earlier been abandoned.

This made the community suspicious.

Before this, Watoto ministries briefed their staff on how one of their own had tested positive for Covid -19.They therefore decided to evacuate all the elderly people that were formerly residing at the home to accommodate their patient.

A staff member who requested anonymity confirmed to this Website that, “Yes we were briefed by our bosses about our member who tested positive for Covid-19 and were going to use this place to isolate him. So we were aware.”

On getting reliable information that a Covid 19 patient had been brought into their village, angry residents started demonstrating demanding for the evacuation of the patient.

Among the reasons they fronted was that: unlike infectious disease control centers, Watoto ministries Premises was least suited to handle the such a case.

1. It has no perimeter wall, which means control of the quarantined boy could not be guaranteed.
2. It is situated in the middle of homesteads. Sitting on barely an acre of land, the small home was abandoned due to its tiny space and left for the elderly pensioners who had served the establishment. The elderly were moved away in rue of the scare, leaving the neighborhood to face the music.
3. It isn’t a hospital, it isn’t a health unit, it isn’t a government run facility.

This made the residents question whether the establishment is honest in doing so and playing their role in securing the community and curbing the spread of the pandemic that has made super powers crawl, or were just eager to save as much money as possible.

“We were therefore worried and had to raise our voices so that concerned authorities hear us and give us the urgently needed help or we forcefully close this center that carelessly seeks to wipe out the entire underprivileged village.” Said a concerned senior resident.

Also read: https://www.newseditor.co.ug/2020/03/30/how-neglected-budaka-covid-19-victim-cheated-death-from-angry-residents/

NEWS EDITOR

BUDAKA angry residents had to go for a demonstration for their voice to be be heard, after the district got stranded with a patient with advanced signs of Covid-19 who was allegedly neglected by medics.

According to the district authorities, this lady who has been working as a maid traveled fourteen days ago from Nairobi and freely lived in Lyama sub county with family members until her condition began to deteroriate.

“On arrival to Budaka health center 4 with advanced Covid-19 symptoms, she was sent to the isolation center in Nansanga health center 3. Communication was sent to the Mbale regional regional referral hospital who kept on telling us stories.” said a top district official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He told us, “They kept on changing from we are coming then we don’t have protective gear, then we shall come tomorrow and our team is on the way but all was in vain. In the meantime, the Nansanga community were getting agitated and grouping up to kill the the patient.”

It was not until Budaka district leaders intervened and comumicated to authorities in Kampala who advised them to use the district pick up and take her the patient to Mbale Hospital.

However on arrival at the Hospital, they were bounced on grounds that the Regional hospital lacked protective gear to handle any Covid-19 patient.

“Left with no option, the patient was driven back to Budaka health center 4 where we quickly organised an isolation room since we could not take her back to Nansanga lest she faces mob tyranny yet Budaka has no protective gear.” Said district official.

Residents are living in fear saying Mbale regional hospital is far from ready to face or receive or tackle Covid-19.

“This is real disaster if a regional referral hospital can turn back a patient to a health center 3. We even wonder what will happen should the country be faced with a full blown outbreak.” Said residents.