How Kamuli residents are beating curfew

Residents of Naluwoli Parish, Butansi Sub-county in Kamuli District have improvised a gong, similar to those used in schools to signal change of lesson, to beat the 7pm curfew announced by President Museveni on Monday.

The gong is sounded once at 6pm, twice at 6:30pm, thrice at 6:45pm and several times at the stroke of the hour, sending residents to their homes.
Mr Ibrahim Kaliisa, the community time keeper and LC1 secretary for defense, said on Thursday that since some people don’t have watches or phones where they can easily tell the time, the gong serves as an alarm.
“We used to sound drum alerts as communication means and this is how we have survived beatings from patrol teams. At least this gong has elicited some response from the community,” Mr Kaliisa noted.
Mr Charles Idiobe, who sponsored the gong at Shs30,000, said the next purchase will be a megaphone to keep the community updated on Covid-19 virus and later they will charter a motorcycle.
“We are not going to wait for police since it's our lives at stake; and for the good of the community, I have offered a litre of petrol daily for this cause. The remaining fuel will come from fines on community members who flout the gong times,” Mr Idiobe explained.