Africa-Press – Uganda. Majority of Ugandans have commended the government for imposing a strict lockdown at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic despite adverse effects on peoples livelihoods.
A survey conducted by Afrobarometer, a research entity, between December 2020 and January 2021, indicate that nearly nine in 10 (89 per cent) of respondents supported government’s decision to impose a strict lockdown.
Early in March 2020, even before registering her first case of Covid-19, President Museveni announced a raft of measures, including closing all learning institutions and banning public transport and crowd-pulling multiple economic activities to curb the spread of the pandemic.
This brought community routines, as earlier known, to a halt, disrupting livelihoods. “Sixty seven per cent of Ugandans say they found it difficult to comply with the lockdown restrictions or curfew imposed by government…,” the report states.
It adds: “More than half of Ugandans say the pandemic caused someone in their household to lose a job, a business or a primary income source.”
The survey, conducted in 110 districts revealed that those affected by loss of livelihoods include people who had lived in moderate and high poverty at 57 per cent, the youth, and residents of urban areas.
Also 2,400 adult citizens were sampled for the survey across urban and rural areas in the country’s regions in proportion to their share in the national population.
As the country battles another wave of the pandemic with the number of cases rising exponentially, Mr Francis Kibirige, the lead researcher, says the support for the previous lockdown may not reflect the current sentiments.
“These results per se do not suggest a need for another lockdown. What they provide is a perspective of how Ugandans took the first wave,” Mr Kibirige said.
President Museveni is expected to address the nation on measures to tackle the resurgence today evening, after weeks of high level and consultative meetings to determine the way forward.
The survey report, however, reveals that although the lockdown was supported, majority of Ugandans were disappointed by the limited or lack of government assistance to those affected by the pandemic. Findings indicate that only 19 per cent of the respondents received any assistance.
The government rolled out interventions, including provision of food for the urban poor and stimulus package for businesses hit by the effects of the pandemic-induced measures, but these have been riddled by mismanagement and allegations of “unfairness”.
“Seventy five per cent [respondents] say the distribution of relief packages to support citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic was not done fairly,” the report states.
Lost trust
Majority of Ugandans at 81 per cent also say government officials misused the resources made available for Covid-19 through corruption.
Experts have argued that this may have contributed to the laxity in observance of the government-imposed standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Ugandans, however, trust the AstraZeneca vaccine with 71 per cent willing to be inoculated, with women, respondents with no formal education and persons above 50 years topping those who trust government to ensure the vaccine is safe.
