NUP leaders mobilizing locals to defy Ebola SOPs in Mubende, Kassanda districts

On November, 5^th 2022, the government extended the initial 21-day lockdown in the two districts of Mubende and Kassanda by an extra three weeks as part of efforts to curb the spread of the Ebola virus. 

While announcing the extension, the Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Acheng, said that despite lockdown, there is still evidence of transmission in the two districts. 

In Mubende alone, Minister Acheng said that the number of cases has slightly reduced but maintained that more work still needs to be done in order to contain the virus. 

Despite great achievements so far realized in the fight against EBV, the Ministry of Health, in conjunction with security agencies, has been closely investigating claims that some residents in Mubende district have been exhuming the dead bodies of their relatives who died of Ebola with the intent to culturally rebury them. 

After two weeks of investigation, it has been established that residents were being misled by some opposition politicians, mainly from the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, within the area. 

A security source confirmed that NUP leaders were heard misleading locals not to adhere to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) put in place by the government to curb the spread of EVD, claiming there is no Ebola virus disease in the area. 

This, according to the ministry of health, has increased the number of Ebola cases in the area and is posing high risks to the local population. 

While appearing on a local television station in Kampala recently, the former chairperson of the parliamentary health committee, Dr. Michael Bukenya, described it as a dangerous practice for locals in Mubende to exhume the bodies of relatives who succumbed to the Ebola virus. 

Dr. Bukenya noted that residents of Kalwana Sub County and Mubende district have remained defiant to Ebola SOPs and other government development programs.

Last month, President Museveni announced a 21-day lockdown in the two districts in which there is no movement in and out, a ban on public and private transport, as well as a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. Additional 21 days of lockdown were extended on Saturday, November 5th, by the government.