NUDIPU asks for government support to respond to Covid-19 mitigation measures

The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) has asked government to provide support to help them respond to Covid-19 mitigation measures and the impact of the pandemic.

Speaking during a news conference in Kampala ,NUDIPU chairperson Mpindi Bumali, expressed displeasure with the measures put in place to fight Covid-19 pandemic noting that they don't favour them.

He lobbied for representation on national and district COVID-19 task forces among many other things.

He tasked the government to provide transparent face masks to persons with disabilities saying that the mandatory wearing of masks has greatly affected them more especially those who use lips to communicate.

"So in the event that I am putting on the masks of this nature (the usual face masks), people won't be able to read my lips. We are asking the government to produce transparent masks," he said.

Among the challenges that these people are facing, he highlighted cases of sexual violence that have been meted on girls with disabilities during Covid-19 period.

He also said that the disabled mothers have been abandoned by their husbands during this challenging period.

"Some mothers of children with mental disabilities have been abandoned by their husbands due to the challenges of providing for them especially for those on drugs,"he said.

Mpindi asked the government to support them so that they are able to access medical care which they lost due to Covid-19 lockdown.

He explained that it was very difficult for members to go for regular medical care especially those with epilepsy and other diseases during the lockdown.

On the issue regarding the elections for PWDs, he asked the Electoral Commission to correct some of the mistakes which dominated the special interest group.

"The deaf community and those who have difficult in hearing needs information.There is no way they can access the information on televisions without sign language interpreters,"he said.

He noted that accessing information through radio stations is also another big challenge to them which needs to be addressed as soon as possible.