The President of Uganda Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni will in the coming days address the nation on the highly anticipated lifting of curfew among other COVID-19 regulations during the holy month of Ramadan.
This was confirmed by Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda in a statement read before parliament on Tuesday, April 13.
Rugunda said that the address whose date is yet to be fixed will mainly be concerned with whether t lift or maintain curfew would be addressed by President Museveni in subsequent days.
“I would like to let you and the country know that Government is very much alive to the impact the Covid-19 prevention measures have had on our ways of life, on businesses, productivity, and subsequently on livelihoods,” Rugunda said.
“We are very much aware and we are in solidarity with all those who have been affected. H.E the President will in the coming days be addressing the Nation with more details on this matter of curfew, where we are in the fight against Covid 19 and what more steps need to be taken to keep our people safe,” said PM Rugunda.
This development comes barely a week since Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga tasked PM Rugunda to address the House on the justification of the night curfew.
There has been loud public outcry that the curfew has frustrated the ‘night economy subsequent to its sanction in March 2020 in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic in Uganda.
It was previously sanctioned to start at 7 pm at dusk to 6 am (dawn) but was later relaxed to 9 pm – 5:30 am.
Restrictions on the nightlife (bars and entertainment centres) and concert/show continue to bite hard on business owners who have revealed that contribute to the economy through the taxes remitted.
However, PM Rugunda re-echoed the government’s focus of prioritising the health of Uganda, revealing that information that is coming in from scientists and the Ministry of Health indicate the threat and scourge of Covid 19 is still real.
“Projections indicate that we should not relax our guard because the number of positive cases reported has started unfortunately to increase, especially in urban areas, border districts, and trading centres. This is coupled with the reported cases of new fast-spreading, and possibly more deadly variants of Covid 19,” said PM Rugunda