In the recent presidential national address on Covid-19, many Ugandans were expecting President Museveni to open up the bars and other recreational places that have been closed for almost two years now but to their surprise, he did not.
He said that such places cannot maintain and follow the Standard Operating Procedures SOPs.
Bars, night clubs, concerts, music shows, and other leisure events were banned with other public gatherings in March 2020 due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
In this, it was the obligation of the security agencies like Uganda Police Force, Local Defense Unit (LDU) and the Army to ensure compliance with the directives. However, it has been discovered that the security agencies do otherwise.
In Mukono Municipality, this directive is no longer working since many bars and leisure places for the so-called well connected people are working on a daily basis with the protection from these very security agencies yet others are just a stone throw away from police stations, posts and LDU barracks.
Places like the Hive Bar, which is behind Mukono Police Station and a very few meters from Kampala–Mukono Jinja Highway has never stopped working. Summer Gardens, which is also on the same highway and owned by Dr Keefa Sempangi, hosts revelers like there is no Covid-19.
Caribas Rest Gardens, which belongs to the sitting chairperson of Mukono District, Rev Dr Keefa Sempangi, accommodates adults and children’s swimming pools, steam bath , sauna and a bar, all of which have continued to work despite a standing ban on all such places and also being close to Wantoni Police Post.
On December 25, 2020, while in the middle of lockdown, Summer Gardens had a security incident where a 16-year-old girl, Irene Nakibuuka, a resident of Ssaza Village in Mukono Municipality, drowned in one of their swimming pools.
Surprisingly, although the family members went to Mukono police to seek help, all was in vain. According to the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, ASP Luke Oweyesigire, confirmed the incident and said that police came and took the body to Mulago City Mortuary for post mortem. Nothing more was said beyond that.
A quick visit to these places, one thing is clear that some bars and recreational places in Mukono District are defying the presidential directives.
This is because they are operating normally and to make matters worse, they work beyond the curfew time while being guarded by the security.
This leaves many Ugandans wondering if the law only works for a few in a country that is still battling Covid-19 and whether they are still safe being in a lockdown while others are spreading the disease.
Recently, after several complaints from the neighbours, the acting Mukono District Police Commander Ismeal Kifudde, invaded Rev Dr Peter Bakuluba’s Leisure Gardens.
“Neighbors around the place confirm that it [the bar] has been operating throughout the lockdown with a big populace turning up with their children to swim and have steam baths and that the music was also played much louder for people residing in the area,” Mr Kifudde said.
Several reports from anonymous sources indicate that security agencies in Mukono Municipality allowed many of such places to operate within the district after fulfilling various conditions different from the SOPs as laid out by the Ministry of Health.
English 