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."
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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