* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The challenges faced by crowded refugee communities are exacerbated by the lack of protective gear, misinformation and increased prices
Florence Lozet is an urban analyst & migration expert, and Yamila Castro is communications lead at Cities Alliance.
"How will refugees get their food?” asks rhetorically Sikita Natalino, on a recent chat over the phone. The 31-year-old refugee lives in the town of Arua, Uganda since 2016, when she left her native South Sudan displaced by the civil war. “Usually, the poorest of them commute to the city to work, then go back to the settlements where their families live, and they can get their food rations. But, because of the ban on car movements this is not possible anymore, there is no way of going there. There is a lack of food”, she explains.
On 22March, Uganda confirmed its first case of Covid-19. So far 55 cases have been found in the country. To contain the spread of the virus, President Yoweri Museveni ordered the closure of schools and all places allowing for public gatherings, including bars, non-food markets and shopping malls. Public transport and use of vehicles have also been banned and a night-time curfew put in place. The social distancing rule, initially the usual 1,5 meters, has now become 4 meters for those with symptoms, which in settlements and refugee camps is nearly impossible to follow.
These measures have severely impacted the refugees and host communities in the country, particularly in cities like Arua, where services and infrastructure are already stretched due to a major influx of refugees in recent years. According to the UN Refugee Agency close to 1,5 million refugees live in Uganda, more than 60% come from South Sudan and 29% from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nearly 187,000 of them live currently in Arua district, while they are 80,000 in the capital, Kampala.
“Most of the people think that COVID-19 is a myth”
Located in Uganda’s West Nile region, 12 km away from the DRC border and 50 km from the South Sudanese, Arua’s strategic location has made the city a destination for migrants seeking access to social services, livelihoods, and support. But in the context of a pandemic, the city has clearly no means to take care of the self-settled refugees that make up for estimated 24% of its total population. “The porous gates to DRC and South Sudan have made Arua vulnerable” says Mayor Isa Kato.
“All the school age pupils are at home making it very difficult to maintain them in these abrupt circumstances. Health care and transport are an issue as private vehicles are not allowed to operate. Women have delivered babies on the road, while wanting to access maternity facilities. Yet, most of the people here think Covid-19 is a myth. This has needed a massive awareness mobilisation through talk shows, which is also very expensive” explains Mr Kato.
"There is a lot of misinformation among the refugee community. Everyone relies on rumours. There are no masks, no gel and no respect of the social distance" adds Sikita Natalino.
“Street vendors cannot sell anymore”
The local economy, mostly informal, depends greatly on the markets. With the Covid-19 restrictions people are struggling both to maintain their livelihoods and to feed themselves, as prices are rising.
"It is very difficult to deal with the inflation of market prices. Only the formal market vendors are authorized to sell their products. Street vendors cannot sell anymore as they don’t have the special authorization and must stay home. This results in less available products and street vendors surviving on a daily basis" says Sikita Natalino.
The local authorities lack accurate data regarding the refugees. They are not included in the national census making it very difficult for the city to plan and provide properly for all its residents. As a result, there has been an increasing pressure on public services including health and education. With the Covid-19 outbreak the food insecurity worsens the situation.
“Since there is no data on how many refugees are in the city, and where they are, there is no plan for food distribution by the organizations” says Ms Natalino, who is also a community representative. The situation is also impacting the elderly, the HIV positive, the pregnant women and other vulnerable populations who don’t get adequate care because their presence in the city is unknown.
Cities Alliance, with support from the Swiss Development Cooperation, is working in Arua to support local authorities managing migration and integration of refugees. The project includes the collection of accurate data on the migrant population, which will allow the city to improve planning and budgeting, and help communities become more resilient.
“We need to have planned migration”, says Mayor Kato. “We need a deliberate effort to ensure that urban refugees are captured in our programmes.”
With 55 confirmed cases, 20 recovered and zero deaths registered as of today, Uganda pushes forward in its fight against the spread of COVID-19.
With 55 confirmed cases, 20 recovered and zero deaths registered as of today, Uganda pushes forward in its fight against the spread of COVID-19. Generous private sector donations, the approval of a COVID-19 response budget and updated measures announced by President Museveni are some of the updates. Analyst and Chief Strategist, Ken Agutamba joins CNBC Africa for more.
Mbarara Rise Foundation ( MRF ) issued a statement expressing concern about the safety, well-being and health of LGBTQI persons living in Uganda and, especially, for HIV-positive gay men. Founder/Executive Director Real Raymond said, in part, "To prevent the spread of COVID-19, as per in-country measures ordered in Uganda, we are instructed to remain at home in order to stay safe, which has resulted in hundreds of LGBTQI persons losing their jobs. This is a tough situation for the LGBTQI people who are HIV-positive who, in addition to limited access to medical services, have no food to eat." Raymond also said that many people have " stopped taking their daily HIV treatment due to lack of food to eat. The medications they have been prescribed are strong and cannot be taken on an empty stomach, which has led many to stop taking their medication entirely."
In the United Kingdom, an engineer won an employment tribunal case after he suffered harassment and discrimination at work while looking to start a family with his husband, PinkNews reported. Peter Allen joined aerospace component manufacturer Paradigm Precision in 2012 as a quality manager, and rose through the company over six years. He was in line to take over as general manager of the company's UK site in Burnley—but things went awry when he came out at work in 2018 and made enquiries into adoption leave.
By a vote of five to four, the Chile Constitutional Court ( TC ) rejected a request for inapplicability filed by a Chilean-Spanish lesbian couple, CNN Chile reported. The couple married in the municipality of Nav�s, in Barcelona, in March 2012. When they wanted to register their marriage in Chile, the Civil Registry rejected it and registered it as a civil-union agreement. Fundacion Iguales Executive Director Alessia Injoque said, "We regret the decision of the court. If we want to protect the best interests of the child, we have to advance in the recognition and rights of all families."
Australia is set to ease rules on gay and bisexual men donating blood, health officials said—a move decried as "window dressing" by LGBT+ groups who criticized restrictions that would remain in place, Reuters reported. The proposed change—which needs to be approved by federal and state governments—would cut a 12-month waiting period on men who have had sex with men to three months, before they are eligible to donate blood. It came after the United States cut the celibacy period to three months due to rising concerns about blood supplies during the coronavirus crisis.
An LGBT+ asylum-seeker hanged himself from a tree outside a UN refugee agency in Nairobi, Kenya, after an incident, Gay Star News reported. Aneste Mweru, a Ugandan, had sought asylum in Kenya since January 2017; the Kenyan authorities recognized his refugee status in March 2019. Mweru was allegedly roughed up by police and guards working for G4S Security Services during a confrontation.
Young people spat at a same-sex couple as they walked to a supermarket in Amsterdam—despite the city being under coronavirus lockdown, Gay Star News noted. The couple, identified as Daniel and Fabio, said they had faced discrimination before and ignored it. However, this time they filmed part of the attack and will press charges.
Singer/former model Samantha Fox, who is engaged to partner Linda Olsen, has had to put her summer wedding plans following the outbreak of coronavirus, RTE.ie noted. The "Touch Me ( I Want Your Body )" singer and her Norwegian fiancee have been together for more than three years. Fox lost her partner of 12 years, Myra Stratton, four years ago to cancer of the jaw.
Lesbian two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo tweeted it is time to end the 2020 pro tennis season due to the coronavirus pandemic, adding "no vaccine = no tennis," Tennis365.com noted. Tennis is officially on a break until June 7 due to COVID-19, but both the ATP and WTA have admitted that the hiatus could be extended if there is no slowdown in the pandemic while Wimbledon ( which was to start June 29 ) has been cancelled.
Former Rep. Aaron Schock ( R-Illinois ) was tagged by Mauricio Kirschner in an Instagram photo showing the two in a group of friends on a beach in Mexico, Insider.com noted. The influencer Sam Stryker shared the photo on Twitter, saying the group "seem to have a very different definition of "social distancing than the rest of us" while vacationing at a resort in Cabo San Lucas. Kirschner seemed to defend the decision, saying the group had not had any outside contact with others. Schock came out as gay in March in a lengthy letter shared to his Instagram page and website.
Out athlete Gus Kenworthy ( who lives in the United States but will be aiming to represent Britain in the 2021 Olympic Games ) surfaced after a six-week absence from social media to reveal that the coronavirus pandemic has hit his family hard, according to On Top Magazine. Kenworthy said in an Instagram post that a nephew and a niece have had coronavirus symptoms and had to be hospitalized, although he did not say that they had been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Kenworthy reminded followers that reaching out to family and friends during this time was crucial.
A well-known Turkmen entertainer has reportedly been arrested on charges of being gay, which is a crime in the central Asian nation of Turkmenistan, RFERL.org reported. The actor/showman, whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested along with about a dozen other people, including his partner, in late March. The former Soviet republic's Criminal Code imposes up to two years in prison for same-sex relations.
Irish singer Hozier is releasing his rendition of "The Parting Glass" as a charity single, The Irish Post noted. On a variety show, Hozier spoke of how the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children ( ISPCC ) had reported three times as many calls to its Childline helpline since the coronavirus lockdown began; he then performed his hit "Take Me to Church" as well as "Shrike" and "Glass." The latter is now available on all platforms to buy, with all the proceeds going to ISPCC and Childline.
The 2020 Tour de France has been rescheduled for Aug. 29-Sept. 20, Cycling News noted. The news followed a video conference between the UCI and representatives of race organizers, teams and riders in which it was also confirmed that all racing has been suspended until at least July 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Tour was originally scheduled to take place June 27-July 19—dates that became untenable when French president Emmanuel Macron extended the current ban on public gatherings until mid-July.
I keep hearing that everyone is in the same boat. But it's really not like that. We are in the same storm yes, but we are not in the same boat.
Your ship can be shipwrecked and mine cannot. Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal and full of moments of reflection, of reconnection and peace. Life is easy in flip flops, with a glass of Coke or or a cup of tea in hand.
For others, this is a desperate crisis. For others it is facing real loneliness. For some it means peace, rest time and a bit of a holiday.
For others, this is torture as they wonder how they are going to pay their bills?
Others were concerned about the bread for the weekend and if the pasta will last for a few more days.
Some were in their "home office" doing all they can to protect the company they work for and still do an honest days work from home.
Others are looking through rubbish bins to survive.
Some want to go back to work because they are running out of money..
Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.
Some need to break the quarantine to stand in a queue at the supermarket. Others just really want to escape.
Others criticize the government for the queue at the shop and for all the uncertainty.
Some have faith in God and are patiently praying and waiting for miracles in 2020.
Others say the worst is yet to come and that's probably our reality.
So, friends, we are not in the same boat.
We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
And each one will emerge, in his/her own way, from that storm.
Some with a tan from their pool. Others with scars on the soul.
It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, more than looking, actually seeing.
See beyond the political party, beyond religion, beyond the nose on your face.
Do not underestimate the pain of others if you do not feel it.
Do not judge the good life of others, do not condemn the bad life of others. Just don't be a judge. Let us not judge the one who lacks, as well as the one who exceeds him.
We are on different ships and all looking to survive. Let everyone navigate their route with respect, empathy and responsibility. Stop the judgement and be kind.
Written by Nicki Peverett
Stay positive. Reach out if you need to. Enjoy the life pause. Appreciate what the world has to offer around you. Make the most of the sunshine.
Picture: French President Emmanuel Macron wearing a mask recently in public (Though a few years ago his country actually banned women from wearing the face veil in public).
Instead of adding facemasks in the list of ways to protect oneself from catching the disease (just like hand-washing, not touching ones face, and social distancing), some governments and institutions have gone out of their way to actually discourage people from wearing face masks altogether.
Pseudo-science has a history of having difficulty accepting it's mistakes, and usually those mistakes are derived from scientists getting involved in socio-political agenda''s and beliefs that have nothing to do with scientific research.
For example, that was the dangerous case of eugenics (the idea of racial cleansing that Hitler used to justify the extermination of Jews). Reknown European and American scientists had established eugenics as a consensus mainstream science, when in essence it was just bigotry, and that has been fully established ever since the Red army first marched into the Auschwitz Jewish concentration camp and were the first to discover the horrors going on therein under the Nazi's.
As the world grapples with the Corvid-19 pandemic, there is a debate emerging about the use of face masks, and the general public is being advised to not wear facemasks. Regrettably, this completely bogus and dangerous advise is coming from otherwise respectable medical and government institutions
The claim is that masks are not efficient, and people wearing them deprive the professionals from finding face masks on the market to protect themselves in the course of their important work of saving lives during the pandemic.
First of all if professionals need the masks to protect themselves, then that means that the masks are efficient in protecting anyone from getting infected with the corona virus.
As we watch all the grim news reports about the corona virus abroad, and we see all those people wearing face masks (from the doctors to the nurses, the leaders, the first responders, the general public and even the police and the military in the most affected countries) the question then becomes are all these professional and non professional people stupid to wear masks?
Meanwhile here in Africa, after ignoring the corina virus danger until just recently, face masks seem to have now become a sort of fashion statement attire. In the process, many are wearing them improperly. I regularly see people who have removed the mask from covering their mouth and nose, and now place it under their chin as they go about in public spaces.
This immediately indicates that people are still not taking the corona virus danger seriously, and/or they possibly do not fully understand the actual purpose of a face mask.
It is possibly until people start dying on the streets from the corona virus that most might start taking such measures seriously.
The exact dismissive behaviour that has caused the incredible numbers of deaths and infections in countries like Spain and Italy.
As I said, we in Africa have just some little time to be able to get the pandemic under control. Once the spread of the disease passes a certain threshold, we are finished.
So let me explain masks as briefly and as informatively as possible.
Statistics of mask wearing nation's compared to the rest indicate that the face mask is an important weapon in the fight against the corona virus because it helps slow, and even stop the spread of the pandemic.
How?
Well just like a condom, if you do not wear a face mask properly, you leave your nose and mouth open to entry of the corona virus when you inhale air during breathing, and thus you can become infected by the Corvid-19 virus.
It's as simple as that.
Cover your nose and mouth properly to avoid getting infected because those are the two main entry points of the Corvid-19 virus into your body, down to your lungs where they then asphyxiate you to death as you gasp for air.
From a scientific perspective, research indicates three important functions served by the face mask:
1 - To Protect Yourself: The mask prevents someone from directly inhaling the corona virus into their lungs through their mouth and nose and getting infected.
2 - To Protect others: The mask prevents anyone who is knowingly or unknowingly carrying the virus, from spreading it to others. It traps the virus in the inside part of the mask so that a sick persons corona viruses do not go out into the air or on any surfaces and infect other people. (In this regard I'd rather stay away from people who are not wearing face masks)
3 - The mask limits the areas available for hand-to-face contact. As we have heard in many guidelines, most infections happen when people touch a contaminated surface, and then later put their hands on their mouth, nose and eyes. Because we are naturally used to touching our face even subconsciously (without being aware that we are doing so), if you wear a mask, any viruses from the hands do not have direct access to your nose and mouth, which are the airways that the virus uses to get to your lungs and asphixiate you to death. The mask therefore protects you from yourself.
Many countries are now considering making it mandatory for everyone to wear a mask especially when out in public. Countries like Germany, Netherlands and the US are preparing such public health directives.
Why? Because it is working well in many countries as it helps people protect themselves, it also automatically helps people protect others, and therefore it ultimately helps stop the spread of the corona virus. So wear a facemask and wear it properly. It might turn out to be the most important thing you ever did to save yourself from getting killed by the Corona virus. Those who are discouraging people from wearing face masks better know that their utterances are comparable to putting people's lives in danger. They will have blood on their hands, because they advised the unsuspecting public that there is no need to wear a face mask.
#FfunaFaceMask
Signed: Mr. Hussein Lumumba Amin
Friday 3rd April, 2020
Extensive scientific research papers plus related data on the proper use of masks and the protection provided by them: docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1HLrm0pqBN_5bdyysOeoOBX4pt4oFDBhsC_jpblXpNtQ/
Donation. The head of Covid-19 taskforce, Ms Mary Karooro Okurut (2nd right), receives a vehicle from officials from Bidco Uganda Ltd as a donation to fight Covid-19 on Tuesday in Kampala. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
By Daniel K. Kalinaki, DAILY MONITOR
President Museveni likes cars. For Uganda’s independence golden anniversary on October 9, 2012, he arrived at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in a new Mercedes Maybach S500 Pullman Guard armoured car, one of the two that had just been added to the presidential fleet.
Both cars cost Shs6 billion, or just over a million dollars in 2012 money. They are part of a presidential fleet that, on occasion, stretches to more than 40 vehicles, including high-end luxury four-wheel-drive SUVs.
In April 2017, the Observer newspaper reported that State House spent Shs21.7 billion on vehicles between 2010 and 2015. This did not include purchases by the Office of the President, where vehicles allocated to resident district commissioners, presidential advisers and the like are accounted for.
But it is more than the presidential fleet. Cars are the go-to presidential gifts for political allies and opinion leaders. Newly chosen Bishops choose their consecration dates carefully, and in consultation with State House, for the President’s attendance guarantees a gift of a new 4WD car.
Those in the know say State House keeps a fleet of new 4WD pickup trucks, ready to be gifted to the President’s allies and supporters. A recent favourite, the Mitsubishi L200 double-cabin pickup, costs about $50,000 (about Shs188.6m) on the road.
Thus it was not surprising to hear President Museveni announce that a $150,000 (about Shs566.0m) donation by the Tony Elumelu Foundation for Uganda’s efforts to combat the coronavirus disease would be used to buy 4WD pickups for the Health ministry.
In a subsequent national address, the President said Covid-19-related donations from the private sector should, as a matter of priority, be used to buy “4WD pickups, brand new”. Many corporate bodies that have queued up to donate have, since the presidential guidance, dutifully offered 4WD pickups, brand new.
The President says he wants to build a fleet of 10 such vehicles for every district, or about 1,350 vehicles.
The wrong lane There are so many things wrong with the idea, it is difficult to decide where to start. Let us begin with the logistics.
In the eight months to February 2019, 217 new cars were sold in Uganda or, we can safely assume, less than 500 new cars annually. So even if enough companies stepped up to provide the money for the fleet, there would probably be fewer than 100 units on the market. It could take at least several weeks, if not months, for new stock to arrive.
Even if the cars, somehow, arrived before the worst of the pandemic had passed, car sellers would jack up their prices knowing exactly what product the country was keen to buy – “4WD pickups, brand new”.
The last time the government undertook an emergency procurement of vehicles, the Vice President, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Works and Transport ended up in the dock, accused of influencing the process for personal gain.
The on-going scandal over the procurement of relief food for the urban poor affected by the lockdown shows that a repeat cannot be ruled out and should, in fact, be expected.
But let us assume that, somehow, the President was able to get even a third of his “4WD pickups, brand new”; 450 cars. Buying cars is a one-off capital expenditure, admittedly a big one. At $50,000 each, the entire lot would cost $67.5 million (ShS253 billion), or Shs84b for the 450.
Sticking with the lower number, and assuming 450 drivers can be swiftly interviewed and recruited without scandal, and assuming a monthly salary of Shs500,000 each, that is another Shs225m per month, Shs2.7b per year.
Then there are the running costs. A May 2017 internal report from the Ministry of Health, produced in consultation with the government chief mechanical engineer, reported that the ministry spent Shs1.8m per month, or Shs22m per year, to maintain each car in its fleet – excluding the cost of fuel.
The new fleet would therefore require Shs9.9b per year in maintenance, excluding fuel. Over five years, the cost of owning and operating the new fleet of 450 “4WD pickups, brand new”, would be Shs30b per year, excluding fuel.
Now let’s put that figure into context. Remember that May 2017 internal report? It was the result of efforts to streamline vehicle ownership and allocation in the Health ministry. The review found that the ministry had 295 vehicles, many in the hands of “non-core junior and middle-level managers”.
After the contracts of two ministry officials expired, they simply abandoned the cars allocated to them in Wakiso and Kiryandondo districts. In fact, the Health ministry had so many cars, including many that were grounded for lack of maintenance, that its transport officer proposed donating 130 to the Ministry of Education to be used as teaching aids in vocational schools.
By 2017 the Health ministry was spending about Shs6.5b per year to maintain its fleet. This, according to a story in this newspaper from the time, was “higher than the annual individual budgets of all, except four, of the 13 regional hospitals”.
A Shs30b annual spend on a new fleet of 450 “4WD pickups, brand new”, would be as much as government plans to spend this year on Arua, Kabale and Masaka referral hospitals, as well as the Uganda Virus Research Institute, combined.
Not only does such massive expenditure on vehicles seem unwise, it also appears to be unplanned. In the national budget framework paper for Financial Year (FY) 2019/2020, the Ministry of Health planned to upgrade 41 health centre IIs to level III and ensure 40 health centre IIIs are “functionalised” in 56 districts.
This “functionalising”, officials familiar with the sector say, simply means buying basic equipment and hiring doctors to work in the many brick-and-mortar health centres built by the government across the country, but which lie empty.
For instance, health centre IVs are mini hospitals that should have wards to admit patients, as well as facilities and personnel to carry out emergency surgeries. In the first quarter of FY 2018/2019, only one in two health centre IVs could offer caesarean sections and blood transfusion services, and the Health ministry planned to raise this number for 75 per cent by the end of June 2020.
Similarly, only half of the hospitals had functional imaging and radiography equipment at the start of FY 2018/2019, with a target of 80 per cent by June 2020. By its own planning, at least according to the submission to the national budget framework paper, the Ministry of Health needs to invest in basic medical equipment, not vehicles.
Emergencies tend to knock even the best of plans out of sync, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. Still, it is hard to see how the purchase of vehicles can be a priority. Countries that are ahead of Uganda in the disease curve show the need for at least four key interventions or supplies.
Wayforward The first is increasing the number of medical workers available to treat patients. Uganda’s doctor-to-patient ratio, of about 1:24,000 is well below the recommended 1:600, but since this is a recurrent cost, let’s set it aside for now.
The second is kits to test for the disease, identify infected people and their contacts and help contain the spread. Thanks to earlier battles against HIV/Aids, Zika, and Ebola, Uganda has some reasonable experience and testing infrastructure to deal with viral outbreaks.
Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute, told this newspaper earlier this week that his facility has the capacity to do 500 tests a day.
Another 20,081 testing kits, donated to Uganda by the Chinese e-commerce magnate, Mr Jack Ma, as part of a wider donation to African countries, expands the ability, at least in the short-term.
While the number of people tested has increased over the past two weeks, the President has ruled out mass testing, which has proved effective in other countries, majorly on account of cost, said to be $65 (about Shs245,276) per test in Uganda.
Investing in developing cheaper testing or buying cheaper testing kits, and expanding the number of tests done every day could be a better way to spend the cash donations.
At a current cost of Shs245,276, each “4WD pickup, brand new”, could pay for more than 750 tests. If the price were to fall to $10 to $20 (about Shs37,739 to Shs75,478) as in other countries, each vehicle could pay for 3,333 tests – more than half all the tests Uganda had run by the end of this week since the pandemic broke out.
Treatment. A nurse attends to patients in a ward at Kiruddu Hospital in Kampala during the doctors’ strike in 2018. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the globe gives government a chance to give adequate priority to the health sector. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA
The third intervention is intensive-care beds. Research conducted in 2019 and released in January on the current capacity of Intensive Care Unit (ICUs) in Uganda by Patience Atumanya and others, found that Uganda has 55 functional intensive care beds in the 12 ICUs that are operational (Two other ICUs were not working due to a lack of medical workers). Only four of the 12 ICUs were in public hospitals.
The Ministry of Health says adding the beds in the recently reopened Mulago Specialised Hospital raises the number to about 100. This is commendable, but far from ideal in a country of more than 40 million people.
A quick internet search reveals that an ICU bed sourced in the United States of America, with its eye-watering healthcare costs, costs around $25,000 to $30,000 (about Shs94.3m to Shs113.2m), definitely cheaper if sourced in China or elsewhere.
ICU beds need specialised medical workers and might cost more than Shs1.8m per month to maintain, all told, but they would save many lives and would be useful even after the current pandemic passes. Why not ask corporate donors to sponsor ICU beds instead of 4WD pickups, brand new?
One in six people affected by Covid-19 could end up in ICU and a smaller but significant number ends up requiring assisted or artificial breathing, using a ventilator.
Accurate data on the number of ventilators in Uganda is hard to find, but if we assume that each of the ICU beds, whether 55 or 100, comes with a ventilator, surely buying another 10, or 20, or more would be helpful.
Internet prices show a cost of about $25,000 (Shs94.3m) per ventilator but many Chinese, Indian and American companies are scrambling to build models that cost a tenth of the price. Even Makerere University is working on a low-cost model ventilator.
Would it not make more sense to invest some of the donated money into off-the-shelf ventilators and a bit more into the research and development of lower-cost models?
None of this is to say that there is no need for ambulatory services in Uganda. An assessment of emergency medical services in Uganda in 2018 by a team of medical experts led by Dr Olive Kobusingye found that the relevant department in the Ministry of Health received total funding of Shs700 million for FY 2017/2018. The President receives 100 times more for donations.
Time for priorities The coronavirus crisis presents Uganda with a short-term choice: invest in the ability to quickly get sick people to hospitals that lack equipment and doctors, or invest in doctors and equipment so that those able to get there get better treatment.
These, obviously, aren’t, and shouldn’t, be mutually exclusive choices. But logically the former always ends badly, while the latter gives those able to get through the door a fighting chance.
The President has said the new fleet would be mothballed at the end of the pandemic. If cars are a priority, why not use the government vehicles that are currently parked since most government offices are closed?
Why spend billions on cars when health workers are openly begging for personal protective equipment like gloves and face masks to keep them safe from picking up or passing on infections?
President Museveni likes cars, but it is about time he fell in love with hospital equipment like ventilators. He could even get into the habit of donating a few ICU beds, brand new.
Annual Health Sector Performance Report The government last year named the best and worst performing hospitals and districts in the Financial Year 2018/2019, with Mbale and Serere District- hospitals, all in eastern Uganda, topping the table. The worst performing district, according to the Ministry of Health’s 25th Health Sector Joint Review report, was Nabilatuk in the Karamoja Sub-region. Moroto Regional Referral Hospital was listed as the worst performing in the same financial year. This was followed by St Francis Nsambya, Kabale, Lira, Rubaga and Mubende hospitals To determine the best performing hospital, Health ministry officials assessed efficiency parametres using bed occupancy rate (BOR) and Average Length of Stay (ALoS) [in hospital]. The ALoS reduced to an average of four days in FY 2018/2019 from five days in 2017/2018. The best and worst districts were determined using the District League Table (DLT) composed of input, process, output and outcome indicators such as staffing levels, Tuberculosis (TB) case detection rate, deliveries in health facilities, immunisation coverage, and latrine coverage, among others. Purpose The Annual Health Sector Performance Report evaluates progress of the health sector against the annual work plans as well as the overall health sector performance against the annual targets and performance indicators. It is a review of what has been achieved, what has not been achieved and provides reasons why the set targets have not been achieved. Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health minister, however, challenged performance indicators used to rank hospitals, saying they should be revised so that the report is focused on “preventive” and not “curative strategy”.
Disgruntled. An illustration of Katikkiro of Buganda Kawalya delivering a message from the Kabaka to his disgruntled subjects outside Mengo. ILLUSTRATIONS BY IVAN SENYONJO
In Summary
The events of 1949 were a culmination of riots in Buganda which started in 1945. One of the major causes was Muteesa’s refusal to sack his finance minister, S. W. Kulubya.
Groups. The Mulumba group was later joined by members of the Uganda Farmers Union of Ignatius Musaazi (pictured). This coincided with Muteesa’s refusal to come out and address supports of the eight officials who had presented a petition to him.
Demands. The protestors demanded democracy in Buganda Kingdom, the number of the Lukiiko (Buganda parliament) representatives be increased to 60 from 36, and the resignation of Katikkiro Kawalya’s government, writes Henry Lubega.
By Henry Lubega, DAILY MONITOR
SUNDAY APRIL 19 202l0
This month marks 71 years since a group of Baganda stood up to their Kabaka (king). The 1949 riots in Buganda Kingdom were a culmination of protests that started four years earlier. The April riots were sparked by Kabaka Edward Muteesa’s refusal to address subjects who had escorted eight non-official Baganda representatives to present a petition to him.
The eight representatives were Samwiri Male, Mikaeri Kirima, Yake Kyaze, Paul Mukasa, Gomeri Lwere, Kulanima Musoke, Sedulaka K. Katongole and Eryeza Bwete. The petitioners demanded democracy in the kingdom, the number of the Lukiiko (Buganda parliament) representatives be increased to 60 from 36, the resignation of Katikkiro (prime minister) Kawalya’s government, the right to gin cotton and right to sell agricultural produce without going through middlemen.
Kyazze told the Kabaka, “The people require democracy to select their own rulers because the elected chiefs will be interested in the welfare of their people. All the people would have been here, but they are prevented by the chiefs from coming here.” Mukasa presented the demand for 60 representatives to the Lukiiko, saying: “If your subjects were granted 60 representatives, there would be no trouble and there would be understanding between the people and rulers.” Talking about the right to gin cotton, Bwete, who claimed to be representing the growers, said they were poor because the chiefs colluded with Asian ginners to robe the farmers.
“Every Indian ginner regards his ginnery site as a royal place. We, therefore, need our own ginnery in order to help ourselves. The growers are dying from hunger,” he said, adding: “We, the growers, are angry because of Katikkiro Kawalya. These chiefs receive money from the Indians as a return for the assistance given to them.” Musoke made the plea for Kawalya’s government to resign. “Your present rulers are after their own peace and not peace for the general public. We have neither intrigue nor jealous. Your Highness will not be able to grant peace to the public whilst retaining the present rulers,” he said. While presenting the petition on selling agricultural produce, Lwere said: “Kawalya’s government may kill us; let us die. All the people say it’s better to die. Buganda is now like Hitler’s Germany. We have come before your highness ready for imprisonment, but we have spoken the truth.”
As each member of the eight-man team gave details of the petition, the number of their supports outside kept swelling. After listening to the petitions, Muteesa asked the team if they wanted to cause an apprising, before walking out of the room.
An illustration of Katikkiro Kawalya fleeing back to the palace after facing angry subjects.
An official response was then sent shortly after through the Katikkiro. According to the protectorate government report titled ‘Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Disturbances in Buganda during April 1949,’ the Kabaka’s response read: “With reference to the three matters which you have spoken of, they are laid down in the 1900 Agreement. I, myself, have a great duty to keep the 1900 Agreement and I believe that you also agree with the agreement… With regard to the ginning of cotton and selling of your produce directly, I will go into the matter after having received the advice of my advisers. Tell your people to return to their homes.” When the Kabaka’s response was read out to the crowds outside the palace, they got rowdy and vowed not to leave until Muteesa himself addressed them.
Police was called in to disperse the crowds, but the pandemonium that ensued after saw both lives and property lost. According to The Daily Worker, a US-based newspaper of May 17, 1949, a protestor was quoted as saying: “We all went to demand for democracy from the king and to ask him to allow us to gin our cotton. On April 26 [1949], the troops of the protectorate government assaulted the people, some of whom were shot. The protectorate government is killing people with impunity and malice. Nobody can protest. An average of eight to 10 bodies are buried every day, other bodies are damped in the same pit.”
How they got there The events of 1949 were a culmination of riots in Buganda which started in 1945. One of the major causes was Muteesa’s refusal to sack his finance minister, S. W. Kulubya. Writing in The Mind of Buganda: Documents of the Modern History of an African Kingdom, Donald Anthony Low says: “Fourteen chiefs raised complaint against him (Kulubya). They said he was spending the money of the country irrespective of the wishes of the government.”
“The Kabaka went into this question with his advisors and found no fault with him (Kulubya). He wrote to the 14 signatories, saying he saw no cause for his resignation.” With Muteesa refusing to sack Kulubya, the chiefs found new grounds, accusing Kulubya and other chiefs of “selling the country (Buganda) to the British secretly.”
The April riots were sparked by Kabaka Edward Muteesa’s (centre) refusal to address subjects who had escorted eight non-official Baganda representatives to present a petition to him.
Kulubya’s other crime against the kingdom was, the petitioners said, his alleged response when asked by the colonial government on the proposed salary increment for government employees and labourers, and also the increment on cotton prices. “Baganda are like soup made of peanut, they will swell but after a while, they will go down,” Kulubya allegedly responded, according to Low.
Basing on Kulubya’s advice, the colonial government decided against implementing the increase in both salaries and cotton prices. And that was how the 1945 Buganda riots began. The disgruntled Baganda demanded for Kawalya’s immediate resignation, but the Kabaka wanted him to stay on. The protestors threatened to attack Mengo and burn the palace in order to kill Kulubya. To save the situation, Kulubya tendered in his resignation. On hearing the news of the resignation, the mob that was gathering outside the palace dispersed.
But the following year, 1946, the Bataka Movement emerged, also to champion the people’s cause. The movement sent several appeals to the governor in Entebbe and some to the colonial office in London, the UK. With no response from the two offices, the Bataka (landlords) decided to send their representative, Semakula Mulumba, to London to present their concerns to the Secretary of State for Colonies. While in London, Mulumba failed to get chance to present the list of concerns to the Secretary of State for Colonies. He instead decided to send them to the United Nations through Andrei Gromyko, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic USSR (Russia) representative to the UN. By sending the eight-page document to the UN, the colonial government and Britain were.
Mengo reacted by sending a document signed by 14 chiefs to Entebbe denouncing the group. They said the people represented by Mulumba were not the genuine Bataka group. The Mulumba group was later joined by members of the Uganda Farmers Union of Ignatius Musaazi. This coincided with Muteesa’s refusal to come out and address supports of the eight officials who had presented a petition to him. The Bataka allied to Mulumba and Musaazi’s militant supporters mixed with the disgruntled supporters outside Mengo and hell broke loose. The looting and arson that was witnessed in the days that followed forced the colonial government to bring in military enforcement from Kenya to bring the situation under control.
Members of Local Defense Unit (LDU) unload relief food to civilians who are affected by the virus lockdown to prevent the potential spread of coronavirus, in Kampala, Uganda, April 4, 2020.
By James Kabengwa, DAILY MONITOR
As individuals and organizations continue to donate relief items and cash towards the fight against Covid-19, a consignment of food whose origin is now the centre of a wide investigation in Wakiso District. Locals in Nakabugo zone along tipped police about food delivered into a house and large consignment were recovered. The house belongs to Kampala Capital City Authority Councillor, Rubaga South Councillor, Ms Faridah Nakabugo. Bags of posho in different weights, a box of sanitizer, cartons of milk and sugar put in green polythene bags, rice, bags of beans, one tank of hand washing and cooking oil were recovered. However, Nakabugo told Daily Monitor that she bought the food and kept it in her house.
“The community members thought it was government food and they alerted police. The food was brought here during day,” she said. Mr Tom Mutebi, a local leader in Nakabugo zone said that authorities responded to rumors that in the wee hours of Friday, three trucks of food arrived and one was stuck in a muddy access road. “People on the trucks called for help to push the stuck trucks towards an incomplete non occupied house. They told us they offloaded lots of food but were surprised that in the morning, some food was reloaded on the trucks and taken away. That’s when they came to us and the police,” Mutebi said. Kampala metropolitan deputy police spokesperson, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire declined to comment on the matter referring this reporter to the Force’s chief communications officer, Mr Fred Enanga. When contacted, Mr Enanga said: “I understand it was Edith Nakalema [who conducted the operation).”
Lt Col Nakalema is the head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit. Hwever, senior presidential press secretary, Mr Don Wanyama said that after consulting with Nakalema’s team, he was told that police conducted the operation. “It wasn’t Nakalema’s team. Instead it was police,” Mr Wanyama said. However, a police source said their line of investigations point to why the food was transported at night, why a councillor who is a resident of Ndeeba transported the food to Wakiso and stored it in a non-inhabited house. By press time, police were still guarding the house.
The food was allegedly part of consignment meant for the residents of Kampala. The Covid-19 Task Force team along with KCCA and the army are giving out the food. President Museveni said that at least 1.5 million people were registered to get the covid-19 relief food in an exercise that started on April 3.
