Museveni warns errant LDUs, asks Col Nakalema to make arrests

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni  has vowed to deal harshly with Local Defence Unit personnel and other security agencies who are abusing  terms of their deployment to enforce anti COVID-19 measures.

President Museveni said that’s it’s illegal to enter people’s homes in the guise of enforcing curfew.

“Some of the LDUs are misbehaving, they were entering houses. What are you doing entering people’s houses? If anybody enters your house, don’t even allow them just ring Nakalema and see what we shall do to them,” Museveni said.

Col Edith Nakalema is the head of the State House Anticorruption Unit.

On Monday, Museveni ordered for 7pm to 6:30am curfew across the country for 14 days, another of a string of measures declared to control the spread of COVID-19, a disease that has devastated countries, across the world.

“Those entering the houses must stop and we are going to deal with them very harshly,” Museveni said.

He explained that when he said people should remain at home, he didn’t mean remaining indoors. He said when the curfew starts, people are allowed to remain outside their houses for as long as they don’t move to public roads. “Don’t interpret my orders in a kiyaye way, as if you don’t know how Ugandans live,” Museveni said.

He also warned the Resident District Commissioners who are corruptly issuing transport orders to people who have no emergencies. He added that Nakalema should also deal with these people because they are abusing the arrangement that the government has put in place to combat COVID-19.

Museveni also told the Crime Preventers not to get involved in enforcing COVID-19 decrees. “If you are not being called upon, don’t get involved in this exercise. Self-deployment by Crime Preventers must stop,” Museveni said.

He appealed to the people who insist on walking to stay away so that they can realise the aim of the lockdown.

“You the walkers, stay home, I don’t want to use force but we need to know where you are going. Otherwise, you’re undermining our efforts in the war, because if you are walking we can’t hear well where the enemy has reached,” Museveni said.

The president also sounded a warning to the market vendors to observe the Standard Operating Procedures like maintaining social distancing and washing hands. “If you can’t listen to advice, we are going to close you because suicide is not allowed, you are going to cause problems,” Museveni said.

The markets he warned include Kalerwe, Nakawa and Busega. He reiterated that those people who insist on working in markets, must stay there in order not to transfer the disease to villages where they reside.

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