The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mukono, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A resident at Kitandwe Zone in Nakifuma-Naggalama town council in Mukono district has set his house ablaze claiming frustration arising out of the ongoing lockdown.
The man identified as Yuda Taddeo Sserunjogi first sent his family of five children and their mother to his ancestral home in Kileku, Nakifuma Sub County after allegedly failing to feed them. He locked himself in the house and set it on fire after their departure.
Although his intention was to commit suicide, Sserunjogi reportedly raised an alarm that attracted community member’s to save him before the entire house and its belongings turned into ashes.
The rescue team managed to pluck the doors out of the house to save the man and put off the fire before it spread to the entire house. However, in the process, he sustained injuries on his right arm and collapsed minutes later as a result of suffocation.
Sserunjogi, who is now admitted at St Francis Naggalama Hospital says that the lockdown has distressed him, to the extent that he is no longer able to earn a living, and fend for his family.
Prior to the lockdown, Sserunjogi worked with a coffee processing factory in Kyotera district. Area chairperson Ronald Kitandwe says that Sserunjogi had earlier on approached him to find out when government food would be distributed in their community.
Dr Justus Atuhairwe who received Sserunjogi at the hospital says he was profusely bleeding but has since stabilized. He adds that Sserunjogi needs to undergo counselling together with his family members, in order to control depression and suicidal thoughts.
Early this week, Mental health specialists expressed concern that current isolation and quarantine strategies to halt the spread of COVID 19 will facilitate social withdrawal, a risky practice for people with suicidal tendencies.
They warned that such prolonged isolation and the ensuing loneliness can lead to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart diseases a shorter life span and may trigger mental health problems resulting from the loss of everyday connections to friends, colleagues, family and the community.
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