Why Museveni, Aceng made lockdown U-turn

President Museveni on Saturday night imposed a 21-day lockdown on Mubende and Kassanda districts over Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a few days after assuring the public that there would be no lockdown.

The experts and analysts, who spoke to this publication, said the President realised that the Health ministry was not giving him full information about the outbreak. Other experts claimed that foreign countries could have put pressure on the President to stop the spread of the disease.

EVD has already been confirmed in at least five districts, infecting 60 and killing 24, according to the statistics from the Health ministry. The two Ebola cases in Kampala were linked to Mubende. Up to 24 people have also recovered from the disease.

Highly-placed sources in government, told this publication that scientists had advised the government last month to lock down Mubende, the epicentre, for at least 21 days to prevent the spread of the disease.

“But the politicians were not in support. They said people are struggling to recover from the effects of Covid-19. You know science alone cannot move things,” the source said.

“You need political will. So we don’t know how wide the disease has spread,” said one of the technocrats, who preferred anonymity, to speak freely.

READ: Travellers, faithful stuck after lockdown

Dr Herbert Luswata, the Secretary General of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA), claimed that the Health ministry had been keeping the President and Ugandans in the dark about the real situation on the ground.

“The President gets information from the Ministry of Health, but I think they downplay the situation by not telling him the real situation on the ground. I think the President has also tried to get his own information because he has realised that this is something that can escalate and become a very big problem,” he said. This reporter could not independently verify this claim.

Attempts to get comments from the spokesperson of the Health Ministry, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona,  about the claim were futile. 

HERE: Tale of Ebola Virus Disease survivor

The director of public health services at the Ministry of Health, Dr Daniel Kyabayinze, while responding to Dr Luswata’s comments, said: “Let him share the full information about the outbreak. I will give him my slot on Radio whenever he is ready”.

However, Mr Farouk Kirunda, the deputy Press Secretary to the President, said Dr Luswata’s claim is not true because the President based on information from the Ministry to impose the lockdown. 

“The document that Mzee (the President) was reading (on October 15) was prepared by the Ministry of Health. So, the person who is saying Mzee (the President) didn’t have information is that one who has a problem,” he said. 

However, when asked earlier about conflicting figures from the ministry,  Mr Ainebyoona said the ministry gives accurate information to the public.

The UMA Secretary General claims that when they went to Mubende Hospital on October 7, they found the hospital was reporting many deaths and the tents designated for handling Ebola were full.

“When we visited Mubende, the acting director of the hospital told us that in the emergency unit, they were isolating more than 20 people there. And others were down in the tents which were designated for handling Ebola,” he said.

The President and the Health minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, had initially ruled out the possibility of a lockdown because of Ebola Outbreak.

Mr Museveni, in his September 28 address to the nation, said the disease is very easy to control and thus there is no need for a lockdown.

“The problem comes if I touch where a sick person smeared me with something and then I touch soft parts of the body parts like eyes, nose and mouth. That is when the virus will enter your body. Therefore, when we heard about these characteristics of Ebola, we decided to fight differently. It is not necessary to have lockdowns, to close schools, stop you from going to churches, markets or travelling,” Mr Museveni said.

But last Saturday, just three days after his address to the nation on the Ebola outbreak, Mr Museveni said they had resolved to lock down Mubende and Kassanda.

He said the decision to impose the lockdown comes because the people in the EVD epicentre are not playing their role in preventing the spread of the disease.

“This is a very violent disease once it gets into your body but it is very easy to avoid. But there are some people who cannot be advised,” Mr Museveni said.  He added: “There are some people (Ebola patients] who were difficult, lying to us, hijacking dead bodies and moving from district to district including coming to Kampala. This movement and deceit have not changed and this increases the risk of spreading the disease to other parts of the country”.

The lockdown was imposed three days after an emergency international meeting was held in Kampala over the risk of the cross-border spread of the disease. Countries were concerned about the outbreak and how the government was containing it. At the meeting, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that six neighbouring countries in the region were at risk. 

“There is a need to beef up case management, point of entry surveillance and monitoring situations along the border to prevent the spread. We have released $5m (Shs19b) to support Uganda and the six neighbouring countries to beef up their capacities in the response,” said Dr Fiona Braka, the WHO Africa Emergency Operations Manager. 

Dr Ekwaro Obuku, a health policy expert, who has previously served as the UMA president, said the lockdown should have been imposed immediately after initial cases were confirmed. The initial case of the EVD was confirmed on September 19. 

“Ebola kills one in every two [infected] people so there’s no opportunity. It is a very deadly disease. The longer you wait [to lockdown], the more people will die,” he said.

He, however, said the move by the President may not eliminate but will reduce transmission.

Madudu, one of the affected sub-counties in Mubende, has reported 16 cases and seven deaths. This is 30 percent of the cases and 37 percent of deaths. A total of 15 sub-counties in the five affected districts have reported cases and or deaths, according to government statistics. Affected districts include Mubende, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Kagadi and Bunyangabu.

“Right now, we are struggling with spillover to other places. The government should also investigate the proper source [of the outbreak] and this will help in understanding the risk areas,” he said. 

Dr Luswata said the deployment of the Ebola testing machine in Mubende could have given a clearer picture of the outbreak which informed the President’s decision.

“Initially, the testing was a bit low and they were underreporting. I understand that Mubende got a Polymerase Chain reaction machine and they are doing tests on-site. I think they realised that the cases were becoming many,” he said.

Ebola cases have continued to increase in the communities of Mubende and Kassanda districts.

“There are also a lot of movements of people into Mubende and Kassanda because of the following reasons: Mining purposes, family relationships, culture and traditions,” the President said on Saturday.

He added: “We also know that some people move out of these districts to seek treatment from traditional healers and witchdoctors. This has led to the spread of Ebola to other districts, that is Kyegegwa, Kagadi and Bunyangabu.”