Home is where my heart was - Onapito

My repatriation during Covid-19. Francis Ekomoloit Onapito, the director of corporate affairs at Nile Breweries Limited (NBL), was among the stranded Ugandans recently repatriated from abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic. He talks to Esther Oluka about being stranded in Botswana and his subsequent return home.

When Uganda reported its first case of coronavirus (Covid-19) on March 21, 2020, the government closed the country’s borders including Entebbe International Airport to incoming and outgoing passengers in a bid to prevent the importation of the coronavirus. The measure took immediate effect on Sunday, March 22, at midnight.

The directive left many Ugandans who were abroad for respective short-term reasons, stranded. Francis Onapito Ekomoloit, the director of corporate affairs at Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) was one of them.

He had left for Botswana in Southern Africa on March 16 and expected to return on March 25.
“I have some family members in Botswana who are in the medical field. I had gone to consult with them on a few matters as well as run some other errands,” Onapito says.

When he received information that Entebbe International Airport had been temporarily closed, Onapito says that until then, he had not expected the situation to get out of hand to the extent of having the airport shut.

Lockdown in Botswana
Home was where his heart was.
“I wanted to return and be with my wife and children. The pandemic had brought uncertainty on humankind. There was all this news flying around about people dying, everyone was scared and emotionally traumatised. Ultimately, being with family was the best option,” Onapito says.
Onapito loves being home and detests the idea of being away for long. Locked up in Botswana, he had to accept the new reality and adjust.

Since there was nothing much to do and he was always confined in the house, Onapito often slept for hours. Meanwhile, his hosts continued to work as they were essential workers. From time to time, he participated in a few meetings via Zoom the famous meeting application. Sometimes, he made calls to office. So, continuing to work while stranded in Botswana was never a problem for him.

Away from family
Onapito frequently called his family, utilised video chats as well as WhatsApp messaging. While conversing with his children, they always asked, “Daddy, when are you coming back home?”

In the end, Onapito became restless and thought of a possible way to get out of Botswana. He contemplated a road trip that involved leaving Bostwana via Zambia, then, Tanzania before eventually connecting back home. He discarded the idea after realising that he would meet challenges including closed borders and the mandatory quarantine.

At one point, Onapito says his frustration even drove him to the brink of attempting to sue the Ugandan government for coming up with an ‘insensitive’ decision to shut down the airport and, in the process, leaving many of its citizens abroad stranded.

“The decision to lock out Ugandans was not warranted. It was completely unfair. Imagine other countries were doing everything in their power to allow citizens back home and yet our government was silent,” he says.
The idea of intending to sue was also dropped when Onapito realised that some people would think he was insensitive bearing in mind that the world was grappling with a pandemic.

What it was like in Botswana
Like Uganda, Onapito says the cases in Botswana shot up because of the truck drivers who were transporting different items into the country. Away from that, there was adherence to wearing masks as well as an organised system of controlled movements.

And so, life for Onapito in Botswana continued from March 16 to June. Then, out of the blue he received a WhatsApp message saying Uganda Airlines would start picking its stranded citizens from some of the African countries. He verified the information. Onapito leapt with joy because finally, he was going home.

The travel process
There was a problem. Uganda Airlines was not going to pick any stranded Ugandans in Botswana. It was not scheduled to land here but rather, make its destination to O.R. Tambo International Airport in South Africa.

This means that Onapito had to find a way of going to South Africa within the shortest time possible since the flight was scheduled for July 2. In addition to this, he had to fulfil other requirements such as taking a Covid-19 test, paying for his return ticket, and agreeing to quarantine upon arrival in Uganda.
“Since I was eager to go home, I agreed to the listed terms and conditions.”

Since Uganda does not have either an embassy or high commission in Botswana, Onapito got in touch with the Uganda High Commission in South Africa, which helped him arrange and effectively plan his trip.
In fact, the high commission negotiated for his permission letter which was sent to him in Botswana. The letter even specified that he uses Ramatlabama border while entering South Africa.

On July 1, with his hosts accompanying him, he set off at about 5am and travelled about 500kms to Ramatlabama. He arrived at about 10 am.
“The roads are very good and that is why I reached the border in a few hours,” he says.

Once at Ramatlabama, his hosts returned while he spent about half an hour negotiating his entry into South Africa. Once across the border, he was asked additional questions while his passport and permission letter were continuously verified by officials. At around midday, he was eventually cleared to proceed to Pretoria. He sat in the hired car that had been sent to pick him up from the border escorted by police until Pretoria. Upon arrival, he was hosted by friends for the night.
“I do not remember sleeping much that night. I was quite restless,” he says.
It had been an overwhelming and scary day.

Returning home
The next morning on July 2, Onapito made his way to the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria where he found other Ugandans waiting anxiously to return home. Each one was cleared and given documents to fill.
Around 9am, the group occupied two buses to O.R Tambo International Airport. The group was able to access the airport at around 11am.

“There was limited activity and staff members at the airport because it was closed to the public, like many other airports across the world,” he says.
After documents of each individual were verified, the group finally left the airport at around 2pm aboard Uganda Airlines. The cabin crew kept spraying the plane every after one hour, a process that caused more tension for many during the flight.

But something amused Onapito, mid-air.
“When the flight attendants starting serving drinks and eats, the manner in which some passengers hurriedly removed their face masks was interesting,” he says laughing. “We love food, don’t we?”

The airline made a brief stop in Lusaka, Zambia to pick other Ugandans before eventually making its final destination to Entebbe International Airport.
“I initially had my own doubts about the efficiency of Uganda Airlines but that day, my perception towards the airline changed. That was one of the smoothest plane rides I have taken within Africa,” he says.
They landed at 8pm and the passengers broke out in a thunderous applause.

Off to quarantine
As Onapito and other passengers descended from the plane, they noticed some people standing near the plane. They were there to guide the group.

“I noticed fear in their eyes. They looked at us like some kind of dead bodies being offloaded,” he says.
The group was disinfected before accessing the passport control area. After checking their passports, the immigration officials kept these travel documents and asked each individual to retrieve theirs at a later date from the immigration head office. Withholding the passports was a way of ensuring the returnees comply with quarantine measures.

A driver was designated to drive Onapito to Frontiers Hotel in Entebbe. On day two of the stay, the returnees at the hotel were subjected to a Covid-19 test.
“They told us the results would be ready after 48 hours but this stretched to five days. Rumour was rife that one of us had tested positive,” he says.

“Since we were not being told anything, the news made me anxious that I had to ask one of those individuals who had conducted our tests about my status. Thank God, my results were negative.”

At the end of 14 days of quarantine, the group was again subjected to the last coronavirus test. After receiving his negative results, Onapito was then permitted to leave the premises on July 18.

Reuniting family
After leaving the quarantine facility, Onapito left Entebbe for Kampala at about 2pm. He had to run some errands. Afterwards, he picked up his older son and the duo travelled to Soroti town. They spent the night there.

The next morning, on Sunday, July 19, Onapito and his son deliberately opted to walk from Soroti to Asalatap village, Wera Sub-county in Amuria district.
This was where the rest of the family members including his wife had been since lockdown.
“This trek was a way of celebrating my return home,” he says.
The duo walked about 29kms. Upon arrival, the surprised family members ululated and hugged them. It was a delight to have one of their own back home.

My lesson
Onapito says:
“This experience taught me that modernity with all its trappings is overrated. Before the outbreak, there were people always saying they are flying here and there, but corona was an equaliser for all of us. I was reminded that the basics in life are what matter and at the centre of it are people you can count on, especially family members.”