Traders plead with govt over lockdown

Traders through their umbrella body, Kampala City Traders Association (Kacita), have appealed to the government to rule out lockdown of the city as one of the measures to control the spread of Ebola Virus Disease.
Kacita secretary general Thaddeus Musoke said the business community is ready to cooperate with the government to prevent the spread of the disease.
“The lockdown [over Covid-19] negatively affected us; we are still struggling with its effects. There are huge loan arrears to clear, rent challenges and businesses have collapsed. Whenever you open newspapers, people’s properties are being auctioned,” he told journalists in Kampala yesterday.

Mr Musoke said they have instituted a monitoring unit to sensitise the business community about the virus and how it can be avoided.
“We shall involve the police, the ministries of Health and Trade as well as Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). Uncooperative businesses/shops will be closed,” he said.
Government officials and health authorities have separately told the public to adhere to the standard operating procedures in order to check the spread of the deadly virus, whose further spread could lead to lockdown of the city.

Mr Musoke appealed to arcade owners to ensure there are washing points or temperature guns at each entry. He also urged the traders to decongest their shops.
“We are consulting doctors if shops can also institute sanitisers and masks because they have not yet fully recommended that. We will also alert landlords about the measures instituted by the government to fight Ebola,” Mr Musoke said.
He said they will be launching “Bulungi Bwansi’’ as an Ebola awareness campaign tomorrow at St Balikuddembe market ahead of the Tuesday meeting called by the Ministry of Trade.
Background
The minister of Information Technology and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, on Wednesday, said at the moment, the government has no intentions to impose the lockdown in the Kampala Metropolitan area due to EVD. “We are still studying the trends and if it becomes necessary, we can consider the lockdown, but for now, we are focusing on tracing the contacts of positive cases,” he said.