Museveni rejects calls to block truck drivers

President Yoweri Museveni

“It is suicidal because, if we stop cargo, how will our coffee, cotton, milk, cement and Mitayimbwa (metal bars) from the factories and maize) move?” Museveni quipped?

Museveni’s response on the issue of truck drivers had been long-awaited by Ugandans who had grown anxious and angry that the government was not doing enough to stop the importation of Coronavirus into the country.

The sense of fear and anger came against reports that in recent days, majority of the positive cases of Coronavirus for Uganda, were truck drivers.

But the President said, in his 12th address to the nation since the outbreak of the Coronavirus global pandemic, that the government had instituted stricter measures for ensure that the truck drivers do not interact with Ugandans as they take cargo across the borders.

For example, the President said, the national transport taskforce subcommittee had barred truck drivers from stopping at popular points and instead designated points (12) where they must only stop.

The president said he had instructed his team to find a way of supporting prostitutes that have been depending on truck drivers at popular stop points.

On whether or not the government will relax the ongoing painful lock-down restrictions, the president said this will be determined by a scientific study that commenced yesterday by ministry of health teams to determine whether the virus has spread to the population or not.

But he assured the country that further steps would be announced before May 5, when the current extended lock-down period is supposed to expire.

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