Activists: "Children of the powerful are studying while those of the poor are languishing at home"
It is absurd that children of political leaders are studying in international schools, abroad while common man's child is left at home helpless, say advocates
Social activists have said that it is absurd that most of the political leaders who supported the closure of schools, have taken their children are either in international schools or abroad, leaving the common man's child left at home helpless.
The remarks were made during a weekly virtual town hall meeting that was hosted by Evelyn Naikoba under the topic: "Ending lockdown tyranny; lessons, reflections and choices behind the Covid-19 mandates."
Speaking during the meeting, Doreen Nyanjura, the deputy Lord Mayor Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) said it does not make sense to have schools and churches closed while crowded places like Kikuubo are open yet the same children denied the chance of education or going to church go to these crowded places.
"When the pandemic started, the local council leaders were terminated from work as the army and police took over. A number of people were crippled and beaten instead of vaccinating them. The most important thing is acquiring vaccines in plenty and sensitising people on how to boost their immunity,”she said.
Nyanjura said in Kenya, the Covid-19 vaccination was well managed and over 5.9 million people have already taken their doses but in Uganda over 4.8 million vaccines have been in circulation but there is no statistics to show.
“The people that supported the closure of schools because of Covid-19 in Uganda, their kids are either in international schools or studying from abroad, the common man's child was left at home. Covid-19 is going to be here for a while. We cannot lockdown forever. We must open up now,”she said.
Simon Ssenyonga, a human rights lawyer said that the places of worship are social, economic mobilisation tools which should not be ignored in the fight against the pandemic.
"Places of worship hold the highest esteem of trust amongst the citizens which politicians may not have in terms of economic drive. The places of worship hold the trust. The politician have the power. The places of worship do have a stronger voice," he said.
The deputy national coordinator Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) Alice Alaso said Covid-19 in Uganda has been used as a tool by politicians to stress and deny people their rights.
"Uganda is a country which is 98% religious, so keeping places of worship closed is a very lost cause, and that freedom of worship should be granted back to us. We need to know when schools are reopening, we need to begin to plan," said Alaso.
Megan Mansell, the former district education director in Florida said wearing masks can make things far worse for the people, for example leading to low oxygen levels, hypercapnia, and fibre inhalation.
"It is preposterous to think that this is a mandated activity and yet it is not proven to be helpful. Masks have proven negative physiological effects on the children. I wouldn't recommend mask mandates as a measure against Covid-19 for anyone, least especially children," said Mansell.
According to Mansell, the best practice for helping disadvantaged children by creating safe environments to protect those with respiratory-borne pathogens since if not well handled, it may have severe effects.
Dr. Eva Mugisa, a pharmacist, said that there is a very big gap that has been created by the withdrawal of medical consent forms which she said is very unethical.
