Activists say civic space has been militarised, hampering Covid-19 response 

Activists have said that Uganda has continuously made poor decisions in its response to Covid-19, a move they said will cost the nation greatly in the fight against the pandemic.

The remarks were made during a virtual town hall meeting on medical practice and Covid-19 under the topic: Is Uganda on the right course?”

The National Unity Platform (NUP) Vice President for Northern Uganda, Dr. Lina Zedriga said the militarisation and Resident District Commissioner(RDCs) being at the centre of Covid-19 response has always proved that the government is not about the humanity and human rights but it’s about money.

“It is unfortunate that the civic space is now militarised and monetised in Uganda .There is a total failure for the meaningful engagement and participation of citizens in the Covid-19, the regime is about the money, ”she said.

Doreen Kanyesigye, mental health advocate, said Covid-19 had taken a toll on the mental health of many people, adding that when people are in the state of stress and confinement, a lot of ill things happen which include domestic violence, abuse among others which will at the end lead to mental illness.

She said it is very unfortunate that the institutions which were meant to protect the people from going down the drain of fear, worry and depression were declared as non-essential hence making the situation worse.

Dr. Clara Wekesa, a physician said that Ugandans should stop the notion that the places of worship are non-essential.

“We know that our health system is quite overwhelmed and I think the places of worship create necessary alternatives for the management and prevention of this kind of condition{mental illnesses}, ”she said.

Bishop Wisdom Peter, Christian Minister and biotechnologist, said that there has been a lot of misinformation propagated in the media about the pandemic and the lockdown.

For instance,Peter said that Tanzania had low cases of Covid-19 and yet it never instituted a lockdown as a measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Tanzania never closed churches, they never closed market places, and they have been free. I was in Tanzania and I never got Covid-19. The point is that pharmaceutical intervention has never been the ultimate solution to the disease and we have so many testimonies about this," he said.

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