KAMPALA – Dozens of people on Sunday morning camped at the gate leading to the residence of Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago in Kampala begging for food as the lockdown over coronavirus begins to bite.
“Desperate people turned into destitutes, as they braved the the Sunday morning drizzle craving for rescue. Of course, I’m going to share with them whatever little I’m blessed with as I struggle to enforce the social distancing rule, albeit with little success,” he posted on social media.
“To date, the National Task force has not delivered even a single kilo of posho in my area of Lubaga South. We need to up our game before the situation runs out of hand,” he added.
The Lord Mayor’s remarks come amid concerns that the government has delayed to distribute food to the needy people in Kampala and Wakiso districts.
By Saturday, April 18, government had not yet distributed to even 100,000 people of the 1.5m people amid concerns that the distribution method is bureaucratic.
The Mayor of Kira Municipality, Julius Mutebi Nsubuga, Wakiso district Mayor Matiya Lwanga Bwanika and Makindye Municipality MP Ssempala Kigozi have asked government to speed up the good distribution.
An open letter to President Museveni by music Promoter Andrew Bajjo also called for better transparency.
“Allow me to bring to you the plight of the majority of our people here in Kira who are struggling to get a meal for their families as a result of the effects of the Covid 19 .It is a leadership challenge, it is coming close to 3 weeks of total lockdown and we have not got any food rations,” he said.
Mr. Bwanika said that for effective food distribution, government must use the local government structures.
“Local government is well defines from municipalities of districts to the village. Food can even be distributed in one day if there is will,” Bwanika said.
