Kadaga warns parliament will fight back

Parliament is under attack from the judiciary, executive and the media but won't go down without a fight, speaker Rebecca Kadaga has said. 

Kadaga wondered why court, the president and media are fixated on the Shs 10 billion that MPs allocated themselves to fight coronavirus in the country, and yet it is part of an entire Shs 304bn supplementary budget. She said the MPs don't have to adhere to the High court justice Michael Elubu's order directing the MPs to refund the money to state coffers. 

The order was issued following a petition by Ntungamo municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga and Erute South MP Jonathan Odur who were dissatisfied with the manner in which the money was allocated. Likewise, prior to the court decision, President Yoweri Museveni said the allocation had both moral and legal issues, saying the MPs had fallen into a trap. 

Museveni said MPs are not purchasing officers for the government to be given money to purchase relief items for distribution in their constituencies. Museveni advised the MPs to take the money to their respective district COVID task forces that would then decide on what to do next.    

However, Kadaga who seems to be personally invested in the controversial money, said critics forget that the job of appropriation is reserved for parliament. She told the MPs need not to panic following the court order and can go ahead and spend the money as per her earlier guidelines.

"The guidelines I gave follow the National Audit Act and the rules of procedure. So how will they account to the judiciary?" Kadaga questioned.

She said MPs can't be receiving orders from all over and everyone - court, the president or the media. She said next week, parliament is going to expose the executive's clossal expenditure. 

"We are dissatisfied by the court order and we are proceeding with another application to challenge the order. So we want you to acknowledge our work, the appropriation is our business. This is now new, a judge appropriating money from the court? Appropriation is for parliament....that's what the Constitution says but a judge is sitting in court saying now he is appropriating. So this is an attack on parliament by the executive and the judiciary and you the media," said Kadaga.

She said the media is not questioning the rest of Shs 304bn supplementary budget that the MPs passed. She said parliament equally appropriated Shs 15 billion to NAADs, Shs 59 billion to the Office of the Prime Minister which "they used to buy rotten food and expired milk that they are giving to people", Shs 94 billion to ministry of Health, Shs 6 billion to the ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, Shs 165 billion for each district, Shs 55 million for each RDC and others for COVID-19 activities.

"This is the truth and it is on record. The MPs have been spending money over a long time, personally I think....almost Shs 200 million spent in these things already. We started spending even before this supplementary came. If MPs show you messages on their phones, nine out of 10 are asking for food. So for anybody to say that we should not be visible. Why don't they want us to be visible? We are elected leaders. So they want to go and show they care more about these people than we whom they elected. This is wrong and we shall not accept it," the speaker said.

Kadaga further stated that MPs handed over their 270 ambulances to the ministry of Health to help in the response against COVID-19 but the responsibility for the payment of drivers, fueling and others is still with the legislators. 

She warned the executive against interfering with parliamentary work saying that each arm of government has its own responsibilities and interference shall not be accepted. 

"We are concerned that we are being attacked by the executive and we are going to take appropriate action on that issue as well. We are three arms of government, we all have responsibilities under the Constitution and we are carrying out responsibilities. So there should be no interference in our work as long as we follow the Constitution," she demanded.

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Vision Group cuts staff salaries by up to 60%

Vision Group, the publishers of New Vision and Bukedde newspapers, will cut staff salaries by up to 60 per cent starting next month due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

A notice from the managing director to staff today said: "for the first time in sixteen years management has taken drastic measures to reduce the wage bill."

This is because, the note said, "the recent downturn requires even more stiff measures to keep the business viable."

The company says it will pay full salary for April 2020. However, it will effect gross salary reduction effective May. 60 per cent will be cut from those earning above Shs 19 million. Those earning between Shs 8m and 19m will take a 45 per cent cut. Those earning below Shs 8m will take a 40% salary cut.

"The position will remain in place until further notice," the letter read.

The communication pointed out that further measures are still being discussed and staff will be notified accordingly. Three staff members have confirmed to URN that they have received the notice. One noted that the note raised "anxiety among some staff" despite the fact they understood most businesses were facing hard times.

The shutdown of businesses to stop the spread of COVID-19 has hit the key revenue to the group – that is the advertisements in the New Vision newspaper and commercial printing for other businesses.

Also, although not a big moneymaker, the channels for the sale of newspapers have been interrupted with disruptions in transportation and the fact that many vendors have gotten off streets.

A lot of companies are cutting down their costs – by laying off staff, cutting pay – to ensure they survive the COVID-19 crisis. Vision Group also runs TV West, Radio West, XFM and Urban TV.

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Uganda starts exporting ARVs to South Africa

Quality Chemicals Limited, Cipla in Luzira has received approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority to start supplying Antiretroviral (ARV) HIV drugs to South Africa.

According to Nevin Bradford, CIPLA's chief executive secretary officer, the company recently dispatched 300,000 packs of ARVs, a combination of tenofovir, emtricitabine efavirenz to South Africa, as part of it's "Africa for Africa" ambition.  

In a press statement, Bradford says this consignment marks the beginning of supply that's expected to spread over the next 12 months and will give South Africans access to quality medicines made in Uganda       

"For the first time, a manufacturer from East Africa has received approval to supply ARVs to South Africa," said Bradford.    

He adds that the good manufacturing practice approval from the South African regulatory authority not only bestows a vote of confidence in the company but also in Uganda's pharmaceutical industry as a whole.       

According to Bradford, guaranteeing the volumes for the next 12 months foreshadows a manufacturing expansion for Cipla into one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in Africa.

Cipla is also in the final phases of gearing up to manufacture the antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine. This drug is included in the World Health Organization's solidarity trial, to find a treatment for the coronavirus (COVID-19).         

According to the 2019 UNAIDS statistics, South Africa has the biggest HIV epidemic globally, with 7.7 million people living with HIV and has the world's largest antiretroviral programme.      

Cipla also exports ARVs and other drugs to Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia and Botswana.  

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Jinja RDC Eric Sakwa granted bail

Jinja Resident District Commissioner Erick Sakwa has been granted bail after spending a better party of this week on remand. Sakwa alongside and two others were charged with three counts of manslaughter, theft and malicious damage, stemming from the death of one Charles Isanga, a trader from Lwanda village in Mafubira sub county, Jinja. Reports […]
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US announces coronavirus treatment breakthrough

An experimental drug has proven effective in treating COVID-19 patients, the head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, announced Wednesday.

"Remdesivir has a clear-cut significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recover," Fauci told reporters in the White House Oval Office. "A drug can block this virus."

An international randomized placebo control trial at his institute started on February 21 with hundreds of hospitalized coronavirus patients, said Fauci. 

Recovery time was 11 days for those given the drug compared to 15 days for patients given a placebo, according to the NIAID.

"Whenever you have clear-cut evidence that a drug works, you have an ethical obligation to immediately let the people who are in the placebo group know so that they can have access and all of the other trials that are taking place now have a new standard of care," Fauci told reporters.

Remdesivir, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, is given intravenously and designed to interfere with an enzyme that reproduces viral genetic material. In animal tests against SARS and MERS, diseases caused by similar coronaviruses, it has helped prevent infection and reduced severity of symptoms. But it is not yet approved anywhere in the world for any use.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was expected Wednesday to grant emergency use authorization for treatment of COVID-19 patients. Another study of Remdesivir had not reached a positive conclusion, something reporters asked Fauci about in the Oval Office.

"It's an under-powered study," said Fauci of a study out of China published in The Lancet that found Remdesivir was not effective in treating COVID-19 patients. "That's not an adequate study."

COVID-19 has killed more than 224,000 people worldwide, including nearly 60,000 in the United States. Total U.S. confirmed infections exceed one million – the most reported by any country in the world. 

"That's a tremendous amount," US President Donald Trump said Wednesday, calling it an "indication that our testing is so superior."

To think that the United States has more cases than China, "does anybody really believe that?" added Trump.

He again blamed China, where the coronavirus was first reported, and the World Health Organization, for the pandemic.

"They misled us," said Trump of the WHO, calling it "literally a pipe organ for China."

"They're not to be congratulated for what took place and WHO is essentially congratulating them," Trump told reporters. "And when they start doing that we've got problems."

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Security names big lockdown violators

President Museveni has used several on-air appearances to teach Ugandans how Covid-19 is spread and avoided and also issued 35 lockdown orders to slow the spread of the disease but it seems his message has been lost along the way.

At 43 days into the Covid-19 lockdown and still counting, a security assessment of national compliance with President Museveni's lockdown orders has found glaring violations.

The Internal Affairs minister said security developed a matrix as an assessment tool.

"We have looked at all 35 directives and guidelines and for each we examined the compliance levels."

"...Compliance to some directives has been very good, in some moderate and yet in some relatively poor."

According to the assessment, almost six key restrictions have been grossly flouted including social distancing in markets and villages, the ban on gatherings of more than five people and approval of travel in medical emergencies.

According to the eight-page security assessment report unveiled recently by General Jeje Odongo, the minister of Internal Affairs, enforcement of social distancing in established markets in Kampala and other towns scored below the 50% compliance mark (45%).

In rural areas, the report found no social distancing at all.

"This is because of behavior and cultural practice. Many rural folks continue to congregate to drink. When challenged by enforcement elements, they carry their drinking pots to the bush where they continue to drink. They fear the police instead of the disease," the minister said.

He also said that some local council leaders join the drinking groups instead of enforcing social distancing.

"Rural people have the mistaken belief that Covid-19 is a disease of aeroplanes. Since there are no aeroplanes coming to their villages, how then will they be affected by this disease? We in the village are, therefore, safe. Let those people of the aeroplanes die with their disease," he said.

He said government needs to step up sensitization to diminish such false beliefs. The World Health Organisation recommends keeping at least a one-metre (three feet) distance between yourself and anyone else. Why? When someone coughs or sneezes, they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the coronavirus.

If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the Covid-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease. The security report also found that groups of especially idle youth in towns continue to congregate, flouting the presidential ban on gatherings of more than five people.

The resident district commissioners (RDCs) also got a fairly poor score of 55% in discharging their authority of sanctioning travel during medical emergencies. The minister said the authority was abused and multiple forgeries were discovered.

Some government officials, the report found, roundly refused to surrender vehicles in the district pool to help in emergencies as the president had expressly ordered. On maintaining a good diet to boost their body defenses against Covid-19, Ugandans earned a 45% score.

The minister attributed the low compliance to "...low purchasing power..."

He also pointed to a belief among Ugandans that good nutrition/food means eating "meat, eggs and chapatti, etc."

He said Ugandans need to know that greens are more helpful in building body defenses. The minister said government needs to "step up enforcement of issued directives and guidelines."

Mourners carrying a body in Masaka

At 85%, Ugandans have moderately complied with steering clear of churches and mosques although some have turned their homes into churches.

According to the report, 95% obeyed the ban on political rallies and distribution of food. But the minister said some politicians have attempted to distribute food and some have been arrested like Francis Zaake. He said some prospective candidates are also meeting people under the guise of sensitizing the public and giving them items to fight Covid-19.

The ban on Ugandans moving across borders has also been flouted.

"People have continued to sneak in through our porous borders especially at our eastern and western borders..." the report said.

Burials especially in rural areas continue to be attended by more than 10 people although compliance is at 85%.

There's 95% general compliance with suspension of bars, discos and music concerts. But the report says some elites have "turned their residences into bars and private discos." "They continue to party with friends in their residences."

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Covid-19: Can culture help slow it down?

History shows that culture has overtime played a significant complementary role in rolling back national or global pandemics.

Ignoring it in designing public health measures to deal with Covid-19 could be a grave mistake. Infectious diseases have for centuries significantly affected how and where we live, our economies, our cultures and daily habits. They have changed our settlement patterns, the size of our communities, our marriage and funeral traditions, with many of these effects continuing to be felt long after diseases have been eliminated and epidemics controlled.

Despite this, there is a tendency to consider epidemics as purely health phenomena. But is a medical approach sufficient in tackling the multifaceted nature and effects of epidemics? Are the social and cultural contexts not equally important to consider? We argue in this short paper that culture provides an essential lens to understand epidemics, how people respond to them, and that strategies to deal with them should be shaped by a "cultural approach".

Does culture have a role to play in responding to epidemics? Culture has recently been highlighted as unhelpful in tackling epidemics – thus President Museveni, during a recent televised update on the coronavirus (Covid-19) situation in the country, warned cultural leaders against misleading their subjects in the fight against the virus.

His warning followed reports that communities in northern Uganda had started treating the virus as an evil spirit, and had used their traditional techniques to scare the spirit away by banging drums, jerry-cans and saucepans. Ambrose Olaa, the Ker Kwaro Acholi cultural institution prime minister, however, clarified that "ryemo gemo" is not an evil practice but a mechanism for sounding communal alerts when faced with a grave situation.

This reminds us that we are "culturally- coded" from a young age and that culture therefore influences our response to epidemics. It informs the processes of symptom recognition, disease naming, help-seeking and how health systems (both "modern" and "traditional") work.

Indeed, it has always been natural to seek explanations for the causes, remedies and responses to epidemics within our cultural frame of reference. Even before recent epidemics such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola afflicted us, culture has been at the centre of Ugandans' search for ways to deal with epidemics.

Can one therefore seek another perspective on culture and our response to epidemics? The following examples illustrate how our cultural resources have proved important in such a response.

Isolation. In 1893, there was an outbreak of smallpox, locally known as namusuna in Luganda. Ugandans responded through "non-concentration".

In Ankole, as President Museveni recently shared, this decongestion technique was known as Omuzze Gw'Omuti (the habit of a tree): before the colonialists named Mbarara town after a grass called emburara, it was called Omuti, after a large tree in the Ankole king's palace.

It is reported that because of the high concentration of people around the palace, Mbarara was most affected with smallpox in Ankole. Banyankore people would thus warn each other to avoid the habit of Omuti – of being congested in one place.

Even the heir to the throne was evacuated to a village setting, where people were safer because they lived in isolation.

"The technique of dispersal once you know the characteristics of a disease isn't new" President Museveni says, "there was no vaccine, no medicine but our ancestors had learnt the technique of 'don't concentrate.'

Even after the arrival of 'western medicine', culture continued to play a role: in 1921, when an English missionary, Leonard Sharp, arrived in Kigezi, the local population helped him to identify Bwana Island in Lake Bunyonyi where he set up a leprosy isolation and treatment centre.

Bwana is adjacent to Punishment Island (Akampene), a tiny island where unmarried pregnant girls would be abandoned to either starve to death or drown while trying to swim to the mainland. This was supposed to teach other young girls not to get pregnant before getting married.

In the Northern and West Nile regions of Uganda, cholera in the 1970's was culturally addressed by mobilising people and advising them not to mix with the sick: "Reeds were placed on top of the roof of the house where a cholera patient was found, and nobody would be allowed to go there," says Hon. Jackline Opar, the chairperson of Ocego Women's Cultural Group and LCIII chairperson of Thatha Division in Nebbi district.

Nutrition. In central Uganda (Buganda and Busoga), smallpox, which mainly affected children, was treated by feeding the sick on traditional foods such as enkejje (the African sprat fish) obtained from Lake Kijjanabalola in Rakai district and Lake Victoria. Later, in the times of HIV/AIDS, eating traditional foods such as avocado, sprat fish and vegetables like dodo were, and are still being, encouraged as immunity boosters.

In Apac, the NGO Plants and Health Project explored how plants, rich in iron and with medicinal properties, could help address opportunistic diseases associated with HIV and AIDS.

The use of traditional food, combined with herbal medicine, proved to be an accessible, affordable and sustainable way to address some of the nutrition and health challenges facing people living with AIDS. Currently, with Covid-19, people are using local fruits such as lemons, nkogwe (termeric), ntuntunu (gooseberry), oranges, mangoes, etc to boost their immunity.

Herbs. Measles and smallpox in Buganda were treated using a herb known as kamyu (desmodium), a small itchy shrub plant that is boiled and the water given to the patient to drink. With malaria, a pungent plant called emopim (coleus aromatic) in Ateso, was used as an effective therapy against the disease, says Jonathan Maraka, an elder with the Iteso Cultural Union.

It would be boiled and the patient covered besides it to allow him/her to inhale its vapour for 20-30mins. Afterward, the patient would bath with its water and s/he would recover.

Similarly, for gonorrhoea, the Iteso used eekisim (acacia holstii). This thorny bush plant provided twigs, roots and leaves that were used in treating gonorrhoea and its wounds.

Another treatment for gonorrhoea was the epuuton (pseudo- cedrela kotschyi), a tree also used for making traditional stools. For cholera, in addition to the isolation technique earlier mentioned, people in West Nile still use a herb called dongo (a Swahili word for soil), and nunu, a white substance extracted from clay soil.

Nunu, which is found at Alwi sub-county in Pakwach, is mixed with cold water and given to the patient to stop diarrhoea and vomiting. A basin full of nunu currently costs Shs 10,000.

Spiritual wisdom. In the 1950's, the Karamojong members of their akiriket (elders' meeting point or shrine) exercised angolar, a practice used to cleanse/wash away a disease or bad omen, to address polio. According to Martin Odong, a member of the Karamoja Elders' Forum, it is believed that this practice not only helped cleanse Karamoja of polio, but rid it of measles as well.

In Ankole, one of the remedies to skin diseases was the prevention of 'okujwarirana' (sharing clothes). In central Uganda, the NGO PROMETRA has been training herbalists to not only study medicinal herbs to treat HIV-related opportunistic diseases, but also sees spiritual healers, diviners, and faith healers as important contributors to patients' sense of well-being: many patients freely confide in them, sharing their most intimate concerns, including those that are HIV/AIDS related, and in the process release stress and enhance their sense of security and hope.

Cultural actors. Employing the services of cultural resource persons has proved vital in the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to research by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda on the role of culture in the fight against HIV/AIDS in 2009, the use of clan heads by Kumi Local Government Community Development Department proved effective: "The rate of sero-prevalence in the district was high, mainly because of insurgency, displacement and confinement of people in camps, in addition to cultural practices such as polygamy and widow inheritance.

The importance of clan leaders and other cultural leaders in raising awareness about the dangers and effects of HIV/ AIDS and cultural practices like widow inheritance through funerals, meetings and others social gatherings proved effective in changing the local people's attitudes towards the practice."

Such experiences point to the need to take culture into account when designing public health measures to deal with epidemics. By being cognisant of people's cultures and considerate of their previous experiences in dealing with similar circumstances, such measures become better rooted in the local context, rather than seen as imposed (and thus ripe for non-compliance!)

There is, therefore, a need for the relevant authorities to start recognising and supporting cultural initiatives in the fight against epidemics not only through research, documentation and publicity, but also by integrating our cultural resources in response strategies.

This can help us deal with the current Covid-19 emergency, as well as with other epidemics that may affect us in the coming years.

The Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda, April 24, 2020

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Tanzania’s coronavirus cases soar to 480

Tanzania has registered 196 new coronavirus cases and six more deaths to become East Africa's most infected country.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced today that 174 new cases were registered in mainland Tanzania and 22 from Zanzibar. Majaliwa also said the number of recovered patients now stands at 167 from the previous 48.

Tanzania's official coronavirus figures have been questioned by a section of the population - with some saying the numbers being released are much lower than the actual infections and deaths. But Majaliwa cautioned the public against disseminating false information saying not every death is because of coronavirus.

Tanzania nationals have taken to social media to post images of alleged 'night burials' being carried out by government officials for suspected coronavirus victims.

Tanzania has largely taken a more relaxed approach to the coronavirus pandemic compared to her neighbours in the region.

Whereas schools remain closed, the borders remain open and public transport and markets still operating normally as before. President John Pombe Magufuli has been quoted as saying God and not masks will defeat coronavirus. He has severally encouraged citizens to pray en masse for God's intervention in the fight against coronavirus.

Kenya's infections stand at 384 after 10 more infections were registered today. Uganda's cases still stand at 79 cases with 0 deaths. Burundi stands at 11 cases and one death while Rwanda stands at 212 cases and 0 deaths. DR Congo cases rose to 491 after 20 new cases were recorded on Wednesday.

 

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With schools shut, learners turn to TV lessons. Are they working?

Schools are shut. So is the country. But teachers have tried to stay on the job despite the national lockdown. They are trying to teach remotely on television and on phone. But is it working?

Martha is a class seven candidate at a primary school in the central district of Wakiso. Her day starts at 7am with house chores before turning on television at 9am for televised lessons. She also receives work on a weekly basis from her school on her mum's phone.

"When I wake up, I brush my teeth, bathe and then do my assigned house chores for the day before getting ready for study sessions on TV," Martha says.

Martha's mother, Maria Mbabazi, who has three other school-going children, says her biggest challenge is keeping her children engaged during this trying time. Her children are among the millions of primary school children affected by the school closures. Mbabazi says not many children are used to studying on television. She says they end up switching to other channels, which she can't control.

"I keep telling them to read their books but it's not easy, they keep dodging and end up watching other channels and because you don't want them to go out and loiter the village, you let them be," she said.

Martha is lucky to come from one of the few families with a TV set in Uganda. The most recent household survey conducted by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics was carried out in 2016. It found that 42 per cent of households in Kampala owned a working television set as opposed to areas like Karamoja where no single individual owned a television set. Overall, 83% of the households in Uganda do not have a television set.

Children in rural areas and informal settlements where communally owned televisions (7%) are the norm, cannot make use of the televised lessons as this would be in contravention of the government orders on physical and social distancing to stop the spread of the Covid-19.

Soon after the government announced the closure of schools on March 20, different local television stations introduced lessons and relied on teachers from different schools to deliver them.

These television stations include; BBS Television under its program "Somera mu Ddiiro Lyo" which translates to, "study from your living room". Others are Bukedde Television, Top Television and the national broadcaster, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.

These lessons have only benefited children in urban areas where households have television sets and electricity. According to the survey, only 57% of the households are connected to the national power grid with the rest depending on tadooba, dry cells and batteries, solar and other sources of lighting.

Over and above the lessons available on television, teachers at Matha's school (Kimanje Parents' School) have been sending lesson plans and questions to her mother's phone.

Henry Ssemanda, a teacher at one of the private schools in Wakiso, said teachers are using WhatsApp to deliver lessons on phone for parents who can afford the internet data charges.

"The parents take care of the internet charges on an agreement basis between a teacher and a parent and we write the work. We draft questions and answers and then take pictures of the work and send it via WhatsApp and later on, we send the answers still through the same method," teacher Ssemanda said.

He also says for parents who can afford, the lessons are conducted on phone and the notes are sent on email or WhatsApp.

"We receive work from teachers with questions and after some days, the teachers send the answers and we mark the children," Christine Mukasa, another parent whose child (Dan Mukasa) is a class seven candidate said.

She, however, says accessing the internet especially social media that comes with a tax has been a challenge.

"My elder son has a phone and the work is sent on his phone. We download it and this has helped a lot. We also photocopied past papers that we printed and he uses that for his reading," Mukasa added.

The situation is, however, different in public schools. A parent identified as Ruth Anderah says her child receives work free of charge from the teacher via WhatsApp.

"Since schools closed, I have received work twice on WhatsApp and they send us a lot that can take the children some time. I have never paid any amount of money." She said.

According to the World Internet Statistics by December 31, 2019, Uganda had 18.5 million users with a penetration rate of 46%. However, according to a 2018 report by the Uganda Communications Commission that number of users had been slashed by five million after the introduction of Over -The -Top service tax (OTT) on social media platforms.

This made internet access more expensive, especially for social media platforms. According to the survey, more than 68% of people own mobile phones compared to 32% of households with radios. Less than 3% of the population own or have regular access to computers or laptops.

For children in rural areas who have no access to these resources, all they can do is wait for the schools to reopen so that they can resume their lessons. For children in Mafubira-Kyamaggwa village in Mafubira sub-county, Jinja district in the eastern part of the country, this forced closure of schools is an extended holiday for them.

TIME TO PLAY

"It is time to play and more time in the gardens because there is no option. It's only the urban schools that are using the internet but here children are spending time in the garden and playing," says Justine Nakibuuka, a mother of three children with one in primary four.

All the platforms mentioned by the parents call for the usage of the internet which is still very low in Uganda. This was confirmed by findings from the National Information Technology Authority - Uganda survey, which indicated that social media platforms are some of the popular avenues for citizens to engage with each other and pursue businesses and educational opportunities.

On April 20, 2020, the ministry of Education unveiled plans to continue engaging children in learning through the Internet, radio and TV lessons. The government also introduced a free online learning platform Kolibri a free and open-source education technology platform. The learning material is downloaded onto a laptop or any other internet-connected device. This can then be shared "seeded" with other devices over an offline network.

The spokesperson at the ministry of Education, Patrick Muinda says the ministry together with the National Curriculum Development Centre are developing content for the online program that will mainly cater for children in candidate classes.

The platform currently has content developed by Khan Academy, an American non-profit established by Salman Khan aimed at creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also includes supplementary practice exercises and materials for teachers.

Muinda said the ministry drafted guidelines for the televised and radio lessons to ensure that children get the right information.

"Kolibri is a good platform and we are developing content for those that can access the internet. This is in addition to lessons we are to roll out on both television and radio," he said.

Addressing the nation recently, the minister of Education and first lady, Janet Museveni, said government was doing this for only children with access to the internet and TV or radio.

She also said government had also finished printing reading materials for children who cannot access lessons on television, radio or the internet. This material will be distributed to the children in their homes.

"The materials will be handed over to the district leaders led by the RDC who will move them down to the sub-county leaders and later to local council offices that will distribute the materials to children in homes. Our target is to reach out to the children," she said.

A total of 1.5 billion learners (90.2% of all enrolled learners) are out of school in 190 countries worldwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

In Uganda, over 20 million learners with 36.6% of these in primary, 26% in secondary and 19% in post-secondary education have been at home since schools were closed due to the pandemic. Education experts have urged the government to prioritize providing learners with reading and study materials they need instead of depending on radio, television or the internet to fill in the gaps.

The national secretary of the Federation of Non-State Education Institutions, Patrick Kaboyo, says children who have access to phones, the internet, television or even radio are unlikely to stay focused on their lessons and will invariably engage in other non-educational activities.

His concern is borne out by data from the UNBS which indicates that even among the general population; only 6% used mobiles for education purposes. More than 52% used these devices for social networking such as WhatsApp.

"Even for children who have been using ICT to learn, online learning is not practical as the cost of data is extremely high and reach is limited," he said.

He is skeptical about government's plan to deploy the resident district commissioners to deliver the learning materials to learners.

"Why deploy the RDC at the expense of the district education officer? Why deploy a local council chairman and not an education secretary at the councils or even school head teachers? This should be changed and evaluation meetings should be held weekly to assess the program," Kaboyo said.

As the lockdown continues and with the academic year calendar drawing to a close, concern continues to grow as to whether learners like Martha will have to write their end-of-year exams which will determine whether they transition into secondary or post-secondary education. Of even greater concern is the lack of information for parents and learners on how at-home learning will be assessed.

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Madagascar citizens found without masks forced to clean streets

Police in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, are enforcing new rules requiring citizens to wear coronavirus masks outside their homes by forcing violators to clean city streets.

The new rule went into effect Monday, and citizens who were caught ignoring it could be seen in the city sweeping streets and picking up garbage.

President Andry Rajoelina has made it compulsory to wear face coverings outdoors in the capital and other major cities as a condition for the gradual lifting of lockdown measures in those areas.

Authorities had warned citizens that those leaving the house without masks would face community service. Gen. Elak Olivier Andriakaja, leader of the anti-coronavirus operations, told Madagascar television that 70% of the people out and about in the capital obeyed the rule.

He said the government had made efforts to raise awareness of the new rules before the sanctions took effect, so he saw no problem with enforcing them. 

Police told the French news agency AFP that about 500 people were penalized on Monday for violating the rule, with 25 sentenced on the spot to sweep the streets.

As of Tuesday, the Indian Ocean island-nation has detected 128 cases of COVID-19. No fatalities have been recorded so far and 75 patients have recovered.

Source

Mpuuga: Why I rejected Shs 20m

The appropriation by parliament of Shs 10bn or Shs 20m to every MP recently to ostensibly assist lawmakers fight the spread of the novel coronavirus has thrust the House into a huge public firestorm that seems to flare up every day.

The huge payout has also split the House. Some MPs like Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine and Francis Zaake have elected to return the cash they claim was a sweetener for them to pass the Shs 284bn government supplementary budget.

Others have run to court to block the payment. Masaka Municipality MP MATHIAS MPUUGA has also publicly said he will return the money because it would be unethical to spend it. Baker Batte Lule interviewed him and below are excerpts

You have returned the Shs 20 million; why?

There are so many reasons but I will go to the immediate ones. The manner in which the money got into the supplementary budget was controversial. There was also not enough time to debate the supplementary budget. The principle of doing things legally to me applies and it was not done. So, I felt uncomfortable taking the money.

The other reason is, I was also uncomfortable with the rationale given by parliament for appropriating that money. The money's purpose has changed four times in one week. Initially, it was meant to help MPs buy fuel for their ambulances, which are now used by the ministry of Health.

But I also know that the ministry had committed to facilitating the ambulances and their drivers. Then it changed to facilitating members to do mobilization and sensitization against Covid-19. Now MPs will give the money to the district taskforce teams. But I also know that all district taskforces were given Shs 160 million each.

Then parliament said MPs would use the money to buy food for their constituents. But I also know buying food had been declared illegal. Mityana municipality MP [Francis Zaake] was arrested for doing the same. I operate with certain principles; so, there was no way I was going to be part of that pack of contradictions.

But people are hungry yet government is distributing food only in Kampala and Wakiso...

Distribution of food must come through a clear parliamentary process. It's a very serious matter because people are starving. It must not be handled as a by-the-way by imagining that MPs have been facilitated to buy food for their communities, which is far from the truth.

I thought MPs are being pushed to abdicate their obligation of calling the minister of Finance to order for presenting a supplementary that would aid other urban centers, mine inclusive, to actually procure food in a proper way with proper statistics of how many people would benefit. But the whole process was shrouded in controversy and there was no way a man of my principles was going to be part of that mess.

Are people in Masaka as hungry as those in Kampala and Wakiso?

The kind of reasons advanced for giving Kampala food apply to Masaka. The kind of jobs that were suspended in Kampala were also suspended in Masaka. We have taxi drivers, saloons, food markets; they employ people who equally need to be given relief food.

If the principle is relief, it shouldn't be given in a haphazard manner. How do you pass a principle of giving food when 98 per cent of the MPs come from rural constituencies?

What are your hungry people in Masaka saying after hearing that you returned their money?

They can't call it their money because it was illegally given. I can assure you that by voting for that money, parliament has not suspended or amended any laws relating to the management of public finances. I will not be shocked if some members end up in trouble with that money. I know MPs are already spending a lot of their personal money to offer relief.

But that is not a license for them to engage in an activity that is ultra vires to the laws we passed ourselves. I would encourage members to do what we have done in Masaka. We have mobilized ourselves with the business community and have got funds to buy food. I will tell you that by the close of the week, we had mobilized close to 30 tones of food and none of that was taxpayers' money.

MPs in urban areas should do the same and avoid participating in an exercise that can't be defended. I'm sure when the ministry of Finance officials step in the dock they will deny ever bringing that vote to parliament. They clearly brought what they wanted and that money [Shs 10bn] wasn't part of it. I think I have knowledge about how public funds are voted.

What kind of calls are you receiving from Masaka about that money?

I have consulted key parts of my constituency and they agree with me that buying food is not a small matter and therefore, can't be handled in a whimsical manner like that. We don't know how long this is going for. You might see MPs coming back to parliament and claiming more money. The law is very clear; if the minister of Finance needs more money, he will come for an additional supplementary.

I have heard some MPs use the word bribe to refer to that money. Would you use the same word?

The choice of words is an individual matter. I wouldn't go into nomenclature; the problem is one; the money. Whether someone calls it a bribe or anything else, it was given illegally.

The speaker was angered by the attorney general's legal opinion that barred MPs from using that money. What do you make of her outburst?

I have not spoken to the speaker to know why she was angry with the attorney general because she is the one who invited him to offer his legal opinion. As a legal scholar, she knows what one does when she differs with his opinion.

Would you take the advice of the attorney general to stay the use of the money as the court directed?

What the attorney general was explaining was basic law, even a student in year one in law school will offer the same opinion. But you see, on matters of the law, lawyers disagree on even the simplest of matters. That really doesn't surprise me, but they disagree respectfully.

What do you make of the speaker's reaction to MPs who dragged parliament to court? Was calling them stupid called for?

It's not my business to tell the speaker the kind of language to use. She's the custodian of our rules and I can't educate her on the choice of her words. What I can only state is that the rules of procedure of parliament don't offer a legal bar to members to seek redress in court when they wish.

In the past you and others have returned money given to you under questionable circumstances. Many of your colleagues are not returning it this time round. They argue that the circumstances are different.

Me not taking this money doesn't mean I don't know its value or I don't know it can offer something. I'm only saying, we can do it better. I'm sure MPs who thought they would use that money to offer relief, have since discovered that they can't use it because they were told to deposit it with the district teams.

I'm very sure you're going to hear quarrels over that money because the district teams might have different things to spend that money on. So, members who have behaved like me previously, it's a matter of principle and doing things right.

There is no quick fix in offering relief, there is an entity called government, which has a public duty and MPs have an obligation to push that entity to act on behalf of their people. MPs have no authority whatsoever to use money wrongly got from the public fund. If they want to offer relief, they should use personal funds.

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Afande bamukutte lwakuvuga SafeBoda n'omusabaze nga obudde bwa piki buwedeyo

Ono Afande yabadde amanyi okwambala ekyambalo kya poliisi kimuyisa ku Lodi bulooko nga essaawa za boda ziweddeyo.      Wabula kyamuwedeko ofiisa mune lweyamuyimiriza namwegayirira nagaana ng'amuvunana...

MPs fell in a trap of Shs 10bn coronavirus money - Museveni

For allocating themselves Shs 10 billion in government's Shs 304bn supplementary budget to fight the coronavirus pandemic, MPs fell into a trap, President Yoweri Museveni has said. 

 

Addressing the country on Tuesday, Museveni said he's heard that Ugandans are very angry with the MPs, saying he also disagreed with the move because not only is it bad planning because it distorted the budget, it also has legal implications and was morally irreprehensible for MPs to allocate themselves Shs 20m each in the middle of a pandemic. 

 

While the High court stayed the allocation of the funds until after the hearing of the case filed by MPs Gerald Karuhanga and Jonathan Odur on April 29, speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga against the advice of the attorney general William Byaruhnaga, granted permission to MPs to spend the money - saying they were not party to the suit.

 

She said it was "stupidity" for MPs to run to court to try and settle parliamentary affairs. But Karuhanga and Odur insist that parliament broke its own rules of procedure when allocating the money. 

 

Museveni said it is "totally unacceptable" under his NRM government for MPs to take on roles for which they were not mandated. He said he advised the speaker of parliament to tell the MPs to send the money to the district taskforces fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Some MPs, he said, have gone ahead to use the money to purchase other things that they have donated in their constituencies. 

 

Museveni said MPs have never been accorded the role of purchasing for government and the auditor general is going to get involved because the money they used is government money and not personal money. 

 

"The one who bought on their own, the question is who authorized you to buy for the country? The auditor general will come in and audit and say you bought badly so that we sort this. They can pay it back if they spent it wrongly," Museveni said. 

 

Museveni also said by donating items, the MPs were interfering with government's efforts to fight coronavirus. He said such interference had led to the arrest Mityana municipality MP Francis Zaake for distributing food to his hungry constituents.

 

Earlier, Museveni said politicians caught distributing food during the coronavirus pandemic would be charged with attempted murder and will not get bail. Museveni criticised police for the selective application of his directive on food distribution. Zaake was arrested on April 19 and has been in detention since and Museveni wondered why NRM people including ministers who had done the same had not been arrested as well.

 

"How do you arrest Zaake and leave these ones of NRM including ministers who are also distributing items? We'll have to learn from these bad experiences," said Museveni. Sembabule Woman MP Anifa Kawooya and state minister for Microfinance were captured on video distributing food items in the constituencies without observing social distancing guidelines.

 

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No new cases as Mulago discharges all its coronavirus patients

For the second day running, Uganda recorded no new coronavirus cases on Tuesday after all the 2,400 samples tested negative for COVID-19.

The country also saw its COVID-19 recoveries rise to 52 after another 5 patients got discharged from Entebbe and Mulago hospitals. Mulago discharged its last two patients while Entebbe discharged another three patients who have clinically recovered from the disease after testing negative twice.  

Of Uganda's 79 confirmed coronavirus cases, 23 have come from truck drivers mostly from Kenya and Tanzania. With the truck drivers becoming the new carriers of coronavirus, ministry of Health has now imposed mandatory testing of all Ugandan officials at the border points in Busia, Mutukula and Malaba due to the high exposure they face while clearing cargo truck drivers. 

Clet Kakuru an epidemiologist at the ministry says the truck drivers interact with everybody from the clearing agents, clerical officers, customs and immigration officers. Now wearing protective gear including face masks and hand gloves has been made compulsory for all officers at the border.

While addressing the nation on Tuesday evening, President Yoweri Museveni ruled out stopping cargo truck drivers, saying Uganda's railway which would have been a better alternative, is not fully operational.

He said Ugandans have to swallow their anger and hostility towards truck drivers and start to use logic and reasoning because blocking trucks would mean Uganda can't also export its coffee, cotton or sugar.

A truck being disinfected at the Uganda-DRC border in Bunagana 

He said the government is in talks with the European Union (EU) to fund the revival the old railway line and China on building a new railway line that would ease the flow of goods in and out of Uganda.

Blocking trucks at the moment is not only suicidal, but also unnecessary, said Museveni. He said East African presidents had agreed that truck drivers needed common control measures and that Uganda now only allows one person per truck to enter the country. 

Meanwhile, Kenya's coronavirus cases rose to 374 after 11 new cases were registered on Tuesday. Rwanda registered 5 new cases while no new data is coming out of Tanzania for nearly a week now.

Zanzibar though reported 7 new cases on Tuesday but officially, Tanzania's cases still stand at 299 after they were not registered by the government.

Tanzanians have taken to social media to accuse their government of covering up coronavirus cases and the devastating effects it is taking on the population. They have posted videos of purported coronavirus victims being buried in the dead of the night by government officials and a few relatives. Tanzania's official coronavirus death toll stands at 10 deaths with 48 recoveries. 

And the burials continue in the dead of night. #Tanzania pic.twitter.com/HSNOPoYXAI

— fatma karume aka Shangazi (@fatma_karume) April 28, 2020

Hapa ni makaburini Ununio. Hii ni jana siku saa tatu, 25 April 2020. Ni mazishi ya siri, ya chap chap, tunayofichwa. Tafakari. Jiongeze. Jilinde. Linda wengine. pic.twitter.com/3GhevOO479

— Ansbert Ngurumo (@ngurumo) April 26, 2020

President John Pombe Magufuli has come under heavy criticism from his own countrymen, the World Health Organisation and the international community for his lax response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Public transport and markets in Tanzania and Burundi continue to operate normally as the pre-coronavirus outbreak period. The president has been encouraging Tanzanians to continue congregating in churches and mosques to pray for God's intervention against the 'satanic' COVID-19. At the moment, Magufuli seems to be focusing most of his efforts on silencing journalists and media houses that criticise his response efforts.

Licenses for some journalists and media houses have been revoked and cable TV operators, Multichoice, Azam and StarTimes have been fined about Shs 8 million and ordered to apologise for a week for having aired Citizen TV's criticism of his measures or lack of.

Citizen TV and radio were ordered to pay a fine of Shs 8 million equivalent and issue a non-recorded apology for every hour, denouncing their earlier bulletins on Tanzania's Covid-19 preventive plans. 

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Burundi moves ahead with May election amid coronavirus outbreak

The race to become Burundi's next president is officially underway as authorities proclaim God will protect citizens from the novel coronavirus, which has already infected 11 people in the East African nation and caused the death of one other.  

Seven candidates launched campaigns Monday, with large rallies that are off-limits in other parts of Africa, where governments are mandating that people practice social distancing to curtail the spread of the virus. 

Burundi's presidential, legislative and municipal elections are scheduled for May 20.  Opposition groups accused President Pierre Nkurunziza's administration of being irresponsible for not delaying the election. 

Nkurunziza, who is stepping down from power and is apparently shunning measures to slow the spread of the virus, told supporters at a large rally Monday that he is backing Gen Evariste Ndayishimiye, the CNDD-FDD's presidential candidate. 

Nkurunziza's 15-year tenure has been marred by controversy, including his  2015 decision to seek a third term, which resulted in a deadly civil uprising. 

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Inspiring Documentaries And Sports Movies On DSTV That Keep Adrenalin Racing While Action On The Pitch Is Off

As the world is in lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many sports activities have been put to halt with all the action shifting from the pitches and courts onto the screens. Ardent sports lovers and followers have been missing the Adrenalin infused action especially through live coverage but for those staying and working at […]
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Omuserikale wa poliisi eyakubwa banne mu kalantiini akyalaajana n’ebisago

OMUSERIKALE wa poliisi eyakubwa banne nga beerimbise mu kussa ekiragiro kya Pulezidenti Museveni mu nkola ayongedde okulaajanira aboobuyinza asobole okufuna obwenkanya kuba embeera ye yeeyongedde okuba...

Kenyan trucker with COVID-19 symptoms dies in Gulu

A Kenyan truck driver who was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital Lacor in Gulu district after presenting with Covid-19 symptoms has died. 

The 59-year-old trucker was admitted on Saturday after being referred from Elelgu border post in Amuru district.

In a statement issued on Monday, the hospital management says the Kenyan national was brought to the facility unconscious with symptoms similar to those of Covid-19 disease.

According to the statement, the deceased was isolated because, besides the other underlying conditions, he met the Health ministry's criteria for Covid-19 suspects.

The truck driver died alongside an 18-year-old woman who was also admitted to the isolation ward on Saturday. She was reportedly referred to Lacor hospital from Abee hospital in Oyam district after she was diagnosed with severe pneumonia. 

Dr Paska Apiyo, the head of case management under the Gulu District Covid-19 Taskforce told URN in an interview that they dispatched the samples of the duo to Uganda Virus Research Institute on Sunday and were still waiting for the results.

The ministry has said they will be releasing the results soon. Gulu regional referral hospital and Lacor hospital are designated isolation centers for Covid-19 patients in northern Uganda. Uganda has so far recorded 79 confirmed cases of coronavirus. 

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Argentina bans sale of flight tickets until September

Argentina on Monday banned all commercial flight ticket sales until September, one of the toughest coronavirus travel bans in the world, prompting an industry outcry that the new measure will put too much strain on airlines and airports.

While the country's borders have been closed since March, the new decree goes further by banning until September 1 the sale and purchase of commercial flights to, from or within Argentina. The decree, signed by the National Civil Aviation Administration, said it was "understood to be reasonable" to implement the restrictions, without elaborating.

Many countries in South America, including Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, have banned all commercial flights for the time being, but none have extended their timeline as far out as Argentina. The United States, Brazil and Canada have imposed restrictions, but not outright bans.

"The problem was that airlines were selling tickets without having authorization to travel to Argentine soil," a spokesman for President Alberto Fernandez said.

The ban would put a strain on LATAM Airlines Group, which has a significant domestic operation in Argentina and has been seeking help from multiple governments. Argentina's largest carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, is state-owned and could survive as long as the government is willing to subsidize it.

The ban would also affect smaller ultra low-cost carriers that have grown rapidly in Argentina with the support of former President Mauricio Macri, such as FlyBondi domestically, and SkyAirlines and JETSmart, which fly internationally.

Argentina has been a difficult market for carriers in recent years, with Norwegian Air Shuttle and an affiliate of Avianca Holdings shutting down short-lived domestic operations before the coronavirus crisis hit.

Industry unhappy

Argentina's decision prompted industry groups including ALTA, which lobbies on behalf of Latin American airlines, to warn that the decree represented "imminent and substantial risk" to thousands of jobs in Argentina.

"The resolution ... was not shared or agreed with the industry and, furthermore, runs counter to the efforts of all the actors in the sector," the groups said in the statement.

The presidential spokesman, however, said the decision resulted from a "consensus between the government and the airline sector."

The September 1 timeframe was arranged with the airlines, the spokesman said. In the interim, the focus of the government would be on bringing back Argentines who were abroad in an "orderly" and "sanitary" manner, he added.

Argentina has been under a national lockdown since March 20. The government, over the weekend, extended the quarantine until May 10, but said it had been successful in slowing the rate at which new cases double.

The country has 3,892 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 192 deaths. 

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Funeral vehicle impounded for carrying passengers

Police in Kasangati, Wakiso district impounded a funeral van belonging to Jambo Funeral Services for attempting to circumvent the current coronavirus lockdown.  

Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga says the hearse registration number UAX 366M, a Toyota Land cruiser was intercepted at one of the security checkpoints over the weekend. Enanga explained that the hearse driver who had turned on the sirens, refused to stop at a security checkpoint prompting police patrol to chase after him.

The driver abandoned the vehicle in the middle of the road and fled.  According to Enanga, upon checking the hearse, officers found an empty coffin and more than 6 people on board. 

Enanga says that police has been monitoring this particular hearse on several occasions on the security cameras carrying passengers, which prompted to alert their teams on the ground to check it.  

He also says they have noticed that most essential workers use their vehicles for private work after dropping them at their workplaces.  

"We noticed that most of those essential staff after their vehicles dropping them at the places of work, they deploy them for private businesses. You find it has dropped the person at work at 8 am in the morning then from around 9 up to around 4 pm the vehicle is moving around carrying out private business and that is not the purpose for which you're were given the sticker. It was to convey you to a place of work and then back," Enanga said. 

Police also impounded two motorcycles and arrested six people for flouting presidential directives against carrying passengers within Kampala metropolitan areas  

The government banned the movement of both private and public vehicles as part of the measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Only cargo trucks and authorised essential services vehicles are allowed on the road.        

 

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Malawi police clash with prison guards over PPEs, promotions

Police in Malawi clashed with prison guards who are demanding personal protective equipment against the coronavirus as well as hazard pay.

The guards went on strike Thursday, saying working without PPE in the crowded prisons puts them at risk. Police used tear gas Friday to disperse protesting guards in various jails across the country. The guards resisted by throwing stones and pointing guns at police armory vehicles, forcing them to withdraw.

The clashes began Thursday after the guards at Chichiri Prison in Blantyre allegedly assaulted three police officers who wanted to stop the strike. National Prison spokesperson Chimwemwe Shawa told VOA he couldn't comment on police actions in Friday's events.  

"Currently I am trying to touch base because I have seen them in the social media, but for now I don't have any comment on the involvement of police. But all in all, management is trying to make sure that the tension is eased," Shawa said.

The striking guards say they believe riot police stormed prisons in retaliation for the assault on the officers. However, National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera denied this, saying police were treating the assault on its officers as a separate incident.

Kadadzera told VOA that police were trying to talk sense into the prison guards, saying it is unlawful for a government's security organ to strike.

The guards say many of them have worked for more than 20 years without promotion and that working without PPE puts them at risk of contracting the coronavirus, especially from new inmates. Authorities have recorded 33 cases of COVID-19 in Malawi, along with three deaths.

A prison guard at the Zomba maximum security prison, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, told VOA in a telephone interview that guards were resolved to shut down the prison's kitchen on Saturday.   

"We are very angry now," the guard said. "And if they are not doing anything, I am telling you, the prisoners will die of hunger."

National Prison spokesperson Shawa said the guards' demands were justifiable, but that the protesters refused to discuss the matter with prison management. 

"The junior officers still believe that only the sit-in can bring answers to their concerns. So, basically, management will be meeting as we monitor the situation, [and] as we are trying to come up with measures to manage the tension," he said.

Nurses in Malawi's public hospitals are also holding sit-ins, demanding PPE and an increase in hazard pay.

On Sunday Malawi Prison Service (MPS) promoted all prison wardens, after the prison officers stayed away from work for two days.

According to Shaba, the promotions are with immediate effect.

"Government has with immediate effect promoted all prison wardens to the rank of Sergeant, all sergeants to the rank of Geoler (Sub Inspector) and all Geolers (Sub Inspectors) to the rank of Inspector of Prisons," said Shaba in a statement.

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Town clerk wa Kayunga agobeddwa lwa kubulankanya obukadde 160

TOWN clerk wa Kayunga Margaret Nansubuga agobeddwa mu ofiisi nga bamulanga kubulankanya nsimbi eziri mu bukadde 160. Bino biri mu bbaluwa akulira abakozi e Kayunga Benson Otim Humphrey gyeyawandiikidde...

Celebrities, High-profile Personalities Who Tested Positive For Coronavirus, See Who Has Recovered

The Coronavirus has affected and killed many people across the globe and forced it into a lockdown as scientists struggle to get a cure and vaccine for it. Many Top politicians, celebrities and sports people have been infected as governments take strict measures to curb the virus.
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Agago police boss arrested for defying ban on social gatherings

The Agago district police commander (DPC), Samson Lubega has been arrest for allegedly defying the presidential ban on social gatherings. 

 

President Yoweri Museveni announced a ban on social gatherings as one of the preventive measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease in the country. Uganda has so far registered 79 cases of coronavirus disease, 46 recoveries and 0 deaths. 

 

But according to Agago resident district commissioner (RDC), Linos Ngompek who also chairs the District Covid-19 Taskforce, Lubega granted permission to businessman Francis Oneka to throw a party in Patongo town council for over 30 revellers to celebrate his completion of the 14-day quarantine. Oneka returned from the UK through Dubai on March 17. 

 

Ngompek notes that the businessman had earlier disappeared from the district when the district taskforce asked him to undergo self-quarantine. He reportedly only resurfaced, a month later on Sunday to hold a party.

"We have arrested our DPC for insubordination. He is on his way to Gulu then will be transferred to Kampala. The DPC went against our instruction and granted permission to a businessman Oneka to organize a party of 30 people and he was in attendance," said Ngompek.

 

Oneka is the proprietor of Onex fuel station in Patongo town. Aswa River Region police spokesperson, Jimmy Patrick Okema confirmed Lubega's arrest, adding that he is locked up at Gulu central police station pending investigations.

 

Okema says preliminary investigation indicate that Oneka threw a party on Sunday night to celebrate being free of Covid-19 after reportedly completing his mandatory quarantine period and invited Lubega as chief guest.

"It's unfortunate that our DPC who should be enforcing the directive to stop such social gathering ended up being one of the people caught attending it. We have him in our custody and he will be investigated accordingly by the regional detectives," he said. 

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Masaka Kids overwhelmed after Drake shout-out

By Ahmad Muto The latest group of young Ugandan dancers to become a global sensation is the Masaka Kids Africana after American rapper Drake blessed them by sharing one of their dance videos on social media. The group, popularly known as the Masaka Kids, took on Drake's Toosie slide dance challenge and the rapper took it […]
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Bobi Wine features on CNN list, divides social media

By Ahmad Muto A CNN Africa list placing singer and politician Bobi Wine on their COVID19 Newsmakers and Heroes list – The Africa edition has left the public divided, with questions raised about the criteria used to select him and what he has actually contributed to the fight. The list that featured other prominent African […]
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Russia cuts off wheat, other grain exports

The Russian Agriculture ministry announced Sunday that it was suspending its export of most grains until July 1, seemingly ignoring warnings from international organizations who are asking countries not to disrupt global food supply chains during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministry said the Russian cutoff affected shipments of wheat, corn, rye, barley and meslin, which is a mixture of wheat and rye. It made no mention of the crisis from the coronavirus that has infected 185 countries or regions around the world and infected nearly 3 million people since emerging in central China in December 2019.

The supplies from Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, will continue to fellow members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EES), which includes other post-Soviet states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Leaders of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned in a joint statement in late March that "as countries move to enact measures aiming to halt the accelerating COVID-19 pandemic, care must be taken to minimize potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security."

George Eustice, British secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said Sunday there was "no serious disruption" to international flows of food, although he acknowledged that there had been "isolated cases" of trade being disrupted, for example goods from India.

The Russian Agriculture ministry announced the move Sunday by saying a quota set earlier this month for exports through June had been "fully exhausted."

Moscow had said the quota was introduced to safeguard its national supplies and market.

The World Food Program (WFP) said in early April that while "disruptions are so far minimal" from the COVID-19 crisis, food supply "adequate," and markets "relatively stable," panics or other behavior changes could create major problems.

But spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs said accompanying the release of a WFP report that "we may soon expect to see disruptions in food-supply chains."

Kazakhstan has seen protests over wheat and flour supplies and said recently that it might abolish quotas on wheat and flour exports. A Reuters report said less than 1 million tons of a 7 million-ton quota for April-June remained by Saturday, owing to a deluge of orders for later exports.

It quoted analysts suggesting that while the quota might be formally exhausted, grain exports so far in April were probably around 4 million and 3 million tons more might be spoken for but would probably ship out in May and June.

Russia exported more than 35 million tons of wheat and 43 million tons of all grains in 2018-19, RIA Novosti reported.

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Lonely Eddy Kenzo’s Birthday Message To Ex Rema Namakula Will Melt Your Heart

The year 2020 will forever be engraved in the minds of many in this generation because of the damage caused by the outbreak of Coronavirus across the globe. But one person who will even curse the gods of the virus the most is BET award award winner Edirisa Musuuza aka Eddy Kenzo. The year started […]

The post Lonely Eddy Kenzo’s Birthday Message To Ex Rema Namakula Will Melt Your Heart appeared first on Chano8.

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Bp. Kaggwa asiimye Museveni olwa kaweefube gw'ataddemu okulwanyisa Coronavirus

OMUSUMBA w'e Masaka omuwummuze John Baptist Kaggwa y'ayimbye Missa ey'entebe enjerere mu lutikko e Kitovu ng'aliwamu n'abasaseroddooti babiri n'abasisita bana.  Bp Kaggwa yeebazizza Pulezidenti Museveni...

Covid-19: All 1,408 tests on April 25th negative

By Website writer All 1408 suspected coronavirus samples tested negative on Saturday at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Ministry of Health has announced. Of the samples, 1408 were from truck drivers at the border points of entry while the 483 were from contacts in the community. In a press statement, the ministry of health said […]
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Ethiopian woman dies from coronavirus in US shortly after giving birth

The Ethiopian community in the Washington, D.C.-area is mourning the loss of a woman who died from coronavirus shortly after giving birth, without seeing her newborn.

Wogene Debele of Takoma Park, Maryland, was eight months pregnant when she began experiencing symptoms including fever, shortness of breath and loss of sense of smell.

On March 25 she was hospitalized, and her son was born one month early via emergency cesarean section. On April 21 she died due to complications from the virus. Her son is healthy and does not have the disease.

On Friday at the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex in Virginia, mourners wore masks and stood at a safe distance from one another. Her husband, Yilma Asfaw, collapsed on the casket, crying out in Amharic.

"You didn't see the boy you were looking for. You left your four children, and what would I do for them?" Despite his distress, his friends and family were unable to comfort him due to the distancing restrictions.

Her 17-year-old daughter, Mihret Yilma, said the loss is impossible to process.

"I didn't just lose one person. I lost three. I lost my mother, my sister and my friend. We were very close. She left without saying goodbye," she told VOA, speaking a mix of Amharic and English. "She taught me the meaning of strength and faith. We are safe because of her prayer night and day."

The daughter has been thrust into the role of mother, mixing milk formula to feed the baby and taking care of the newborn for three weeks. She said she takes solace in her new responsibility.

"The newborn baby reminds me of my mother," she said. "I feel like I am finding my mother through my siblings. From now on, they are all I've got. Mom used to say when I have my own children that I wouldn't need a babysitter and that she would raise my children."

Yilma, 50, and Wegene, 43, won the Diversity Visa Lottery to go to the United States 10 years ago, taking their daughter Mihret and son Naol Yilma, now 10. They had their third child, another son, Asher Yilma, after arriving in the US. The father is a school bus driver for Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Washington, D.C.-area is home to the largest population of people of Ethiopian descent in the U.S., with an estimated 100,000 living in the region.

"This family is going to need us in the future. They're going to need our support and our assistance, like so many families in our community," Takoma Park mayor Kate Stewart told local television station WUSA9.

Etsegenet Bekele is a neighbour and had known Wegene. She lived on the third floor and Wegene on the eighth. "This is so painful for a new mother. I have no words. It is so painful," she said. "She was a good person for everyone, but she would die for her children more than anything. She is a soldier for her children."

She said to mourn in such circumstances is painful, as people are keeping distance and can't console each other. "You can't get over it even after crying and everything is done from a distance. In our culture to be buried like this is deeply painful."

Yilma said he still can't accept the loss of the woman he has loved since they were both children.

"We have been together for 25 years," he said. "She was my childhood friend; she was my childhood partner. She was my adviser, my lead, I don't even know what to say. She loved her children. She was the kind of person who welcomed people with open arms. My sorrow is deep and bitter," he told VOA.

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Covid -19: Goon behind forged stickers arrested

By Website writer Police is holding two suspects for forging COVID-19 vehicle stickers. The two identified as Dickson Mugarura and one only identified as Julius were found with a replica of permits issued by the Ministry of Works and Transport to ease the movement of essential workers during the ongoing lockdown. Metropolitan police spokesperson Patrick […]
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Brazil becoming coronavirus hot spot as testing falters

Cases of the new coronavirus are overwhelming hospitals, morgues and cemeteries across Brazil as Latin America's largest nation veers closer to becoming one of the world's pandemic hot spots.

Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse, or are already too overwhelmed to take any more patients.

Health experts expect the number of infections in the country of 211 million people will be much higher than what has been reported because of insufficient, delayed testing.

Meanwhile, President Jair Bolsonaro has shown no sign of wavering from his insistence that COVID-19 is a relatively minor disease and that broad social-distancing measures are not needed to stop it. He has said only Brazilians at high risk should be isolated.

In Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazon, officials said a cemetery has been forced to dig mass graves because there have been so many deaths. Workers have been burying 100 corpses a day — triple the pre-virus average of burials.

Ytalo Rodrigues, a 20-year-old driver for a funerary service provider in Manaus, said he had retrieved one body after another for more than 36 hours, without a break. There were so many deaths, his employer had to add a second hearse, Rodrigues said.

So far, the health ministry has confirmed nearly 53,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 3,600 deaths. By official counts, the country had its worst day yet on Thursday, with about 3,700 new cases and more than 400 deaths, and Friday was nearly as grim.

Experts warned that paltry testing means the true number of infections is far greater. And because it can take a long time for tests to be processed, the current numbers actually reflect deaths that happened one or two weeks ago, said Domingos Alves, adjunct professor of social medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, who is involved in the project.

"We are looking at a photo of the past," Alves said in an interview last week. "The number of cases in Brazil is, therefore, probably even greater than what we are predicting."

Scientists from the University of Sao Paulo, University of Brasilia and other institutions say the true number of people infected with the virus as of this week is probably as much as 587,000 to 1.1 million people.

The health ministry said in a report earlier this month that it has the capacity to test 6,700 people per day — a far cry from the roughly 40,000 it will need when the virus peaks.

"We should do many more tests than we're doing, but the laboratory here is working at full steam," said Keny Colares, an infectious disease specialist at the Hospital Sao Jose in northeastern Ceara state who has been advising state officials on the pandemic response.

Meanwhile, health care workers can barely handle the cases they have. In Rio state, all but one of seven public hospitals equipped to treat COVID-19 are full and can only accept new patients once others have either recovered or died, according to the press office of the health secretariat. The sole facility with vacancy is located a two-hour drive from the capital's center.

At the mouth of the Amazon, the city of Belem's intensive care beds are all occupied, according to online media outlet G1. As the number of cases rises in the capital of Para state, its health secretary said this week that at least 200 medical staff had been infected, and it is actively seeking to hire more doctors, G1 reported.

On Saturday, the city of Rio plans to open its first field hospital, with 200 beds, half reserved for intensive care. Another hospital erected beside the historic Maracana football stadium will offer 400 beds starting next month.

In Ceara's capital, Fortaleza, state officials said Friday that intensive care units for COVID-19 patients were 92 percent full, after reaching capacity a week ago. Health experts and officials are particularly worried about the virus spreading into the poorest neighborhoods, or favelas, where people depend on public health care.

Edenir Bessa, a 65-year-old retiree from Rio's working-class Mangueira favela, sought medical attention on April 20; she was turned away from two full urgent care units before gaining admission to a third located 40 kilometers away.

Hours later, she was transferred by ambulance almost all the way back, to the Ronaldo Gazzola hospital, according to her son, Rodrigo Bessa. Still, she died overnight, and he had to enter the hospital to identify her body.

"I saw a lot of bodies also suspected of (having) COVID-19 in the hospital's basement," said Bessa, a nurse at a hospital in another state.

The hospital released Edenir's body with a diagnosis of suspected COVID-19, meaning that her death — like so many others — doesn't figure into the government's official tally. A small group of family members gathered for her burial on Wednesday, wearing face masks.

"People need to believe that this is serious, that it kills," Bessa said.

Bolsonaro has continued to dismiss health officials' dire predictions about the virus's spread in the country. Last week, the president fired a health minister who had supported tough anti-virus measures and replaced him with an advocate for reopening the economy.

Bolsonaro's stance largely echoes that of his counterpart and ally U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been stressing the need to put people back to work as unemployment figures reach Depression-era levels. Unlike Bolsonaro, however, Trump has moderated his skepticism about the virus.

The fight to reopen business "is a risk that I run," Bolsonaro said at the swearing-in of his newly appointed health minister, Nelson Teich. If the pandemic escalates, Bolsonaro said, "it lands on my lap." 

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