Government will distribute food Ugandans in areas only Wakiso and Kampala districts for now despite objection from Parliament on the methodology of distribution and question of beneficiaries.
During plenary on Thursday morning, Kadaga told MPs that last Friday, the President invited the top leaders of the arms of Government and during the meeting, they advised the President to declare a state of emergency. However, Kadaga said that it was objected by a cabinet Minister who convinced the President against declaring a state of emergency.
The Finance Minister has tabled a proposal to borrow 1.7 trillion shillings, (449.8) million dollars to mitigate the effect of the coronavirus pandemic which has slowed down the economy.
Atwine, who was responding to questions from Members of Parliament in regards to their preparation to handle cases in case they rise, said that at the moment they are handling cases of coronavirus in Entebbe Grade B hospital and Mulago hospital.
According to Rugunda, each vulnerable person will receive at least three Kilograms of beans, six kilograms of Maize flour and salt. He further revealed that lactating mothers and the sick will each get 2 kilograms of powdered milk and 2 kilograms of sugar for a month. It is not clear if the lactating mothers are part of the 1.5 million.
Although the Finance Ministry is seeking Shillings 284 billion to mitigate the corona virus pandemic impact, Shillings 81 billion is going to security while Shillings 62 billion will be channeled to the Health sector, which is at the forefront of combating corona virus.
On Tuesday, the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga in her communication to MPs questioned the operations of the LDUs. Kadaga demanded answers from Government saying the LDUs are not supposed to brutalize Ugandans.
During plenary, the Kyankwanzi Woman MP, Anna Maria Nankabirwa told the house that an expectant mother died who was due for labor died because of failure to get transportation.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday at her boardroom, Aol said the President left a lot of unanswered questions after his address. She says for instance that Members of Parliament have been affected since the movement of private cars has been prohibited.
This is to ensure that testing kits are not wasted on people with different ailments who do not meet the case definition of COVID-19. According to the World Health Organisation, most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and develop fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea.
The MPs also want the stay of all loan repayments, lowering of the Central Bank lending rate, as well as food supplies for Ugandans who work from hand to mouth.
The MP's say that they have reliable information that some Ministers and Members travelled abroad and only returned recently but were not quarantined yet they continue to move out in the public.
Earlier on, Kadaga told the legislators that they would process the budget for the 2020/2021 financial year budget electronically to reduce on committee sittings because of the corona pandemic.
According to Kadaga, everything will be done electronically in as far as the Budget committee, Agencies, Ministries and Departments are concerned. She says that where necessary, a maximum of four people will sit with the committee to respond to the issues raised.
Under the circumstances, a cross-section of leaders have called for a total lockdown to save Uganda from the devastating effects of the virus which is spreading around the world. So far, President Yoweri Museveni banned gatherings in schools, churches and political functions, among others, besides closing all Ugandan borders.
MPs want commercial banks to relax and reschedule the loan repayment period for borrowers for at least 90 days in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Only 50 journalists OF 250 accredited to cover Parliament will access Parliament in the next 30 days following a move by Parliament to suspend non critical staff and ban visit.
