Forced Covid jab for MPs sparks uproar

Uganda’s Parliament has announced no-access policy for all unvaccinated members, staff and visitors effective today, sparking uproar and raising questions about legality of the decision.
In an October 29 letter addressed to all the 529 Members of Parliament (MPs), staff and the public, Mr Henry Yoweri Waiswa, the deputy clerk to Parliament, said the move is to ramp up uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in line with a presidential guidance.

In an address last Thursday, President Museveni rallied Ugandans to take the shots and tied the planning full reopening of the country from the residual lockdown only if 5.8 million citizens are inoculated.
The overall government target is for 21.9 million Ugandans to receive the vaccines, but as of October 27, data from the World Health Organisation showed that only 3.27 million Ugandans had been vaccinated, with only 415,000, or 0.9 percent of the population, double jabbed.

“The Office of the Speaker [of Parliament] is in agreement with the President’s observation and in  the  communication  of  the Rt Hon  Deputy Speaker  (Anita Among) at  the  sitting  of Parliament on Thursday, October 28, 2021, she gave a directive that access to the precincts of Parliament should be restricted to only Members of Parliament, staff and visitors that will show proof of vaccination against Covid-19,” Mr Waiswa noted in his letter.

He added: “Honourable Members and staff, in line with the Rt Hon Deputy Speaker’s directive, therefore, you are hereby informed that with effect from Monday, November 1, 2021 (today), access to the parliamentary precincts will be restricted to ONLY those that have been vaccinated against Covid-19. By copy of this letter, the Sergeant-at-Arms is directed to work with the Division Police Commander - Parliamentary Police, to enforce these guidelines.”

The decree was met with disapproval, with sections of lawmakers categorising it as “a bad” decision. 
The Opposition Chief Whip, Mr John Baptist Nambeshe, said the decision may attract legal action if Parliament enforces it starting today.
Majority Ugandans are not vaccinated because of vaccine shortage and outreach limitations, he argued, adding that denying them access to a House of their elected representative is highhanded, undemocratic and uncalled for.

“If they go ahead to implement this decision, they may face legal actions because how do you bar people from accessing Parliament because they have not been vaccinated? Secondly, why should you force people to be vaccinated without their consent?” he said.
Parliament would not be the first government agency to bar unvaccinated individuals from accessing workplaces. The National Medical Stores, which imports, stores and distributes the Covid vaccines nationwide, a fortnight ago adopted the no jab, no access policy for staff and guests followed by the Ministry of Health, the political overseer of the vaccination access.

Ugandan launched nationwide vaccination on March 10, but scarcity of vaccines coupled with negative attitudes reinforced by concerns over safety of the jabs, resulted in less-than-satisfactory number of priority and vulnerable groups such as health workers, security personnel, teachers, the elderly and those with comorbidities turning up to get the shots.
The government has blown hot and cold in trying to get more citizens to get vaccinated, with modest success.
Ms Betty Ochan Aol, the former leader of Opposition in Parliament, said while leaders are supposed to lead by example, the citizens should be sensitised, not forced, to comply through draconian measures.

“True we are leaders who must lead by example. We cannot be asking people to be vaccinated when we are not vaccinated ourselves. However, the move to ban legislators from accessing the premises is very wrong. Why should you force people like this? We must use better approaches to encourage Ugandans to go for vaccination,” she said.
Ms Morine Osoru, the Arua City Woman MP, who subscribes to the ruling National Resistance Movement party, said while she will wait to see how the ban will be enforced, the decision may backfire.
There is vaccine apathy among a large section of the population and forcing them to go for jabs will only worsen the situation, she said, citing reports that some people, both in and outside Uganda, have died after inoculation.

“While I don’t want to preempt what the situation will be, the decision may not be a good one. However, I will wait to hear from the Deputy Speaker how it will be implemented because she was the one who communicated the decision last week in Parliament,” she said.
Analysts warned that the decision risked worsening Parliament’s perennial problem of lack of quorum and sending away unvaccinated staff, while they continue to be paid, could be exploited as unofficial holiday and create a paralysis in the House operations.

A legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to freely express himself, said it is unfortunate that “President Museveni has become the law” alongside his views.
“The other day, he (the President) said there should be no bail for capital offences and we are being ordered to accept that, now he wants all people to be vaccinated even when he knows that he has failed to procure enough vaccines for Uganda. He (Mr Museveni) has made this Parliament useless and our friends are being forced to accept the official party position, which are often his personal positions imposed on the party members,” the member said.

At present, there are more vaccines in storage at the National Medical Stores than the number of Ugandans filing to get jabbed.
Ms Pheona Wall, the president of Uganda Law Society, yesterday said the issue of Covid-19 and vaccination is a delicate issue that needs to be handled with care.
She said while everyone had a right to either accept or reject introduction of a foreign object into their bodies, employers also have right to say who should be admitted into their premises.
Ms Wall said right now, world over, countries are denying access to those who are not fully vaccinated into their countries and that everyone should take this seriously.

“I was in France last week and you could not even sit in restaurant to buy and eat something if you [were] not vaccinated. Our legislators have a right to not be vaccinated, but also Parliament, which is a large institution, [has a right] to say that those who are not vaccinated must not be admitted,” she said.

VACCINATION CONCERN
Last week, the Minister of State for Primary Healthcare, Ms Margaret Muhanga, decried the low Covid-19 vaccine uptake and resistance among the elderly people as government prepares to fully reopen the country. “We have noted that people above 50 years are not taking the vaccine as expected and yet they are the most vulnerable,” she said.