Displaying items by tag: Uganda

The mental health crisis at Kiryandongo refugee camp is escalating, with suicides and suicide attempts surging. Between January and October 2024, 41 suicides and over 130 attempts were recorded, highlighting the profound psychological distress faced by refugees. Many are haunted by memories of past trauma, such as bombings. These ongoing fears disrupt daily life and contribute to widespread mental health struggles. Despite the existence of psychosocial support programs, resources at the camp are insufficient to meet the overwhelming demand. With over 1.7 million refugees in Uganda, local healthcare services are under immense pressure, but specialised care is often inaccessible due to high costs. The UNHCR is calling on governments, the private sector, and international donors to increase funding for mental health programs to address this urgent need.

A study conducted in Bangladesh reveals that owning a pair of reading glasses might increase earnings by a third. Researchers found that average monthly earnings rose from $35 to $47 within eight months for participants over 35 with poor eyesight. Presbyopia, the loss of closeup vision, costs the global economy over $25bn annually in lost productivity. However, in low- and middle-income countries only about 10% of people have glasses to correct the problem. The study, involving 824 individuals, has highlighted their significant impact on improving quality of life and productivity. The story of Sarah Nakalyowa, a basket weaver from Uganda, illustrates the transformative effect of glasses on productivity and income. Spectacles enabled her to regain lost income and even start a mushroom-growing business.

Uganda’s main opposition party, the NUP, has said its leader Bobi Wine was detained upon returning from a trip abroad. The singer-turned-politician arrived at Entebbe airport on 5 October after visiting several countries, including South Africa. A photo appeared to show two men seizing him by the arms on the tarmac. However, the police said he was ‘successfully escorted by our security team’, and urged people to disregard rumours of his arrest by ‘propagandists’. In September the police announced they were banning rallies being organised by the NUP across the country because of public order issues. There is a long history of authorities using so-called ‘preventative arrest’ to detain opposition leaders, often holding them for several hours before returning them to their homes so as to stymie mass demonstrations. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is a prominent critic of President Museveni’s government. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2021 against Museveni, who is serving a sixth term in power.

Recently, a joint military operation between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo successfully rescued over one hundred civilians who were being held hostage by the Islamic extremist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The military task force launched airstrikes on the ADF rebel camps for over two months before the rescue operation. One of the rescued women said, ‘The soldiers arrived when we were praying. They fired several bullets, which allowed us to flee to the middle of the bush.’ The ADF started as a force opposing the alleged mistreatment of Muslims by Uganda. It later expanded to the DRC, where it has grown and spread. It is the most violent of 120 armed groups in eastern DRC and has committed crimes against Congolese civilians, including many Christians.

Uganda has recorded 141 infections since the outbreak of Ebola was declared on 20 September. President Museveni has extended by 21 days a quarantine placed on Mubende and Kassanda districts, at the epicentre of the outbreak. Movement in and out of central Uganda is restricted up to 17 December. The aim of this extension is to sustain the gains in control of Ebola which have been made, and to protect the rest of the country from continued exposure. Mr Museveni said, ‘It may be too early to celebrate any successes, but overall, I have been briefed that the picture is good.’ 55 people have died since the outbreak was declared. Although it is gradually being brought under control, he said the situation is ‘still fragile,’ adding that the country’s weak health system and circulation of misinformation about the disease were still a challenge.

Uganda’s education minister has decided to shut all types of schools from 25 November after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among pupils and eight children died. The virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain of Ebola, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain which spread during recent outbreaks in neighbouring DR Congo. Ebola is spread through bodily fluids; common symptoms are fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea. Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban settings. Ebola generally kills about half the people it infects. The decision to close all schools came because densely packed classrooms were making students highly vulnerable to infection. On 5 November the three-week lockdown on Mubende and Kassanda districts, which are at the centre of the outbreak, was extended. The measures include dusk-to-dawn curfews, banning personal travel, and closing markets, bars and churches.

On 20 September, Uganda’s health authorities declared an Ebola outbreak after a Sudan strain was confirmed in central Uganda. Five days later 36 people had Ebola, 26 had died, 399 contact cases were identified, and 104 were in follow-up. Symptoms take two to 21 days to develop. Uganda's excellent road infrastructure allows infected people to travel in any direction for some time before becoming symptomatic, making tracing known contacts significantly more difficult. Pray for the national task force, meeting every day. Pray for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) as they set up an Ebola treatment centre. Pray for WHO as it deploys medical supplies and provides logistics and more staff, to help Ugandan authorities to halt Ebola’s spread. Pray for those setting up isolation units to have all the equipment and protective clothing they need. See also

Islamic teacher, Hiire Sadiki, was poisoned on April 2, shortly after his wife learned he had converted to Christianity. He put his faith in Christ on March 27 after several months of discussions with a Christian pastor. After he didn’t observe the Ramadan fast and his wife noticed him praying in the name of Christ she questioned his mode of praying. He told her he believed in Issa (Jesus]). His wife had studied the Koran and knew verses about apostasy punishment. She left the room and began phoning Muslim leaders, then returned and prepared supper. ‘After 30 minutes, a neighbour arrived, went to the kitchen and then immediately left. After supper Sadiki suffered convulsions and vomiting and phoned the pastor who took him to hospital. Tests indicated his food was tainted with insecticides used to kill rats. The assault was the latest of many instances of Christian persecution in Uganda. 

Security forces in Uganda have shot dead a Muslim cleric, Sheikh Muhammad Abas Kirevu, accused of working with an armed group linked to suicide bombings in Kampala. He had recruited for cells run by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) - rebels who have pledged allegiance to IS. On 16 November four people were killed and over thirty injured by attackers on motorbikes who blew themselves up in the city: IS claimed responsibility, but officials have blamed the ADF. Twenty-one people have been arrested since the attack, in what police have described as the dismantling of ADF terrorist cells in Kampala and across the country. A police spokesperson said 13 suspects, including several children, had been intercepted while trying to cross the border into DR Congo. Also, on 17 November four suspected ADF operatives were killed near the border.

On 11 June Uganda recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began. Cases were up 137% this week, forcing the state to impose a partial curfew. Last week, the UAE banned flights from Uganda after recording cases of the Indian virus while already struggling with the South African and British mutants. Uganda has a curfew between 9 pm and 5:30 am and has closed all learning institutions. The ministry of health announced a halt to the vaccination process citing the lack of jabs. All intensive care and high-dependency beds in the country are already occupied and vaccination against Covid-19 is progressing very slowly. Barely 750,000 people have received one dose (35,000 have received two doses), in a country of 45 million people.