Senior Pastor of Gospel Life Church International, Mr Umar Mulinde has cautioned government against enforcing another lock-down, saying this might produce “anarchy.”
The acid attack survivor, human rights activist, author and pro-Israel public speaker issued a statement on Friday in which he pointed out that Ugandans are already experiencing “very tough conditions” due to COVID-related restrictions.
“Ugandans are experiencing very tough conditions due to lockdown, therefore, prolonging it might produce anarchy,” he said.
“The country was locked, brutal curfew imposed, in which people have been harassed in inhuman manner.” he continued.
“At the time when lockdown was imposed, Uganda had no case of COVID-19, but as of now there over 700 cases,” he said.
Pastor Umar Mulinde purported that Ugandans seem to have paid a big price than any other country because, “even [poorer] countries repatriated their people, but Ugandans continue to be locked outside of their country and are suffering terribly,” he said.
Uganda Christian News readers should note that the government lifted the ban on public transport on 2 June, 2020. The directive tied to mandatory wearing of face masks was followed by the opening of offices, shopping malls, and premises selling general merchandise.
The Minister of Health, Jane Aceng told media reporters on Thursday government may announce another lock-down if Ugandans fail to adhere to guidelines on preventive measures against coronavirus.
She said that citizens should be in position to understand that the lockdown “does not stop the spread of coronavirus but it gives government a chance to prepare.”
“People are no longer following the preventive measures and this is evident by what is happening in the markets, taxi and bus parks. That means that the entire country may get cases and we may move to stage 4 which is not desirable,” she said.
Uganda has on a daily registered cases of COVID-19, with the vast majority being cross-border truck drivers.
“Many people think that, it’s unfair for government to blame citizens for COVID -19 case increase, because it has been majorly caused by truck drivers whom citizens had requested government to stop entering Uganda, but government refused,” Pastor Umar stated.
“It’s beating many people’s understanding why government chose sickly truck drivers over majority of own citizen’s within the country and abroad? Government shouldn’t be surprised why people seem to be disobedient, it’s not that they want to die but they lost confidence in the whole procedure,” he said.
“The first month of lockdown, Ugandans wholeheartedly complied but surprisingly whereas many citizens had sacrificed everything hoping for the lockdown to be utilized to defeat the pandemic, people were much disappointed to see that some government workers had turned the pandemic into a money making opportunity,” he said.
“People’s anger and distrust were provoked when government workers turned the pandemic into business of getting money, stealing tax payers money at the expense of the suffering of impoverished Ugandans forcefully locked into their homes where some women have resorted to cooking stones to feed their children and several people have died of hunger, others, because of failure to access hospitals due to the lockdown,” Pastor Umar Mulinde claimed.
“Given the experience from other countries, especially the most affected nations, a prolonged lockdown produce bad results, that is why regardless of the infected numbers, America is steadily opening and President Trump promised never to lockdown again,” he said.
