Six people arrested after crossing from border landing sites into Masaka

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Six people have been locked up in Masaka district quarantine centre after allegedly sneaking out of the COVID-19 red-flag areas of Kyotera district. The suspects were apprehended by security personnel at Makonzi landing site in Bukakata sub-county.

Herman Ssentongo, the chairperson of the Masaka district COVID-19 task force says that the suspects were intercepted on a tip-off that they had traveled from the neighbouring landing sites in Kyotera district which is considered one of the high-risk areas because of its proximity to the Tanzanian border.

The suspects who are in three pairs of women and men are believed to have sailed by boat from Kansensero and Nangoma landing sites of Kyotera district. The two landing sites were recently condoned off by authorities and declared quarantine zones after they presented increasing numbers of community COVID-19 transmission.

Ssentongo argues that their teams obtained intelligence information that people were evading the ongoing mass screening exercises at the landing site by sneaking out through shortcuts to the neighbouring district of Masaka.

Ssentongo adds that the task force is considering prosecution of the suspects as a way of averting other groups of people that may wish to sneak out of high-risk areas to endanger other members of the public.

Aloysius Jjuuko, the Bukakata sub-county chairperson says they have put on alert all village council leaders and beach management teams at landing sites to stop unfamiliar groups of people from visiting their areas of jurisdiction. He adds that they have also asked community members to cooperate with security and help to identify aliens infiltrating their areas through the lake.

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