COVID-19: Activists want government to fully reopen worship centers

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | As the government of Uganda moves to fully reopen the country in January, activists want the government to exempt worship centres from COVID-19 restrictions.

They say there is no scientific research indicating that these places are super spreaders of the disease.

The activists were on Nov.01, speaking at a forum on zoom which is part of ‘the end lockdown platform’ townhall meetings that have continued to attract intellectual debate around COVID-19 restrictions worldwide.

Winnie Kiiza, a former legislator from Kasese in the Western region, said it is unfair to restrict numbers for worshipers especially when other risky places like markets and the popular Kikuubo trading lane in the city centre remain fully open.

She also said that many places like bars are open and police is not minding about them.

“The devil is in control,” she said, “Christian leaders need to take on the mantle…humanity is being corrupted.”

Kiiza, a former leader of opposition in Parliament, also said, the issue of keeping people isolated is the work of the devil which ‘we should resist’ to avoid registering high numbers of mental illness or depression going forward.

She also said, COVID-19 restrictions have been used as an opportunity by politicians to market themselves at the expense of other people in society.

Speaking at the same forum, Emily Burns, Republican and Congressional candidate for Massachutsetts 4th Congressional District, said science should be used as a tool to protect human rights but not to suppress them.

She said, governments must work towards lifting covid lockdowns and get back people to work and to their descent lives.

Burns also said, once these lockdowns are maintained, countries risk seeing their people protesting like it has been in countries like German, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway and some states in the United States.

Burns also said, that instead of keeping lockdowns, governments must work hard to vaccinate their populations that are at high risk like the elderly and frontline workers.

She also said, that amidst science, people should be left to make personal decisions on issues instead of enforcing lockdowns that violate human rights.

Simon Senyonga, a lawyer, said restricting operations of worship places tantamount to denying the people their right to seek for alternative places of information gathering to inform their daily decisions.

“Everything that I do must be about living a dignified life,” Senyonga said, “My right to life is tied on freedom of worship.”

He said worship places create platforms for voicing out concerns and engaging policy makers on various matters.

He sited countries like Tanzania, Zambia, the United States and some Scandinavian countries that have fronted God as a savior during this pandemic era.

Currently, government allows only 200 people to gather at worship centres to prevent the likelihood of those with the virus to spread it to others.

President Yoweri Museveni has set a target of 4.8million people to be vaccinated by end of this year to allow full reopening of the country.

As of Oct.30, a total of 3.1million total dozes had been administered.

Away from places of worship, education and entertainment sectors remain tightly locked as many people that earn a living from them remain jobless.