The Kampala Lord Mayor, Ssalongo Erias Lukwago wants the government of Uganda to give each household Shs 252,000 in COVID-19 relief food to cover the new 42-day lockdown.
The Lord Mayor made the proposal after the government announced yesterday that the vulnerable urban people whose income has been affected by the lockdown because of the hand-to-mouth nature of their work will this time be given cash handouts as opposed to food relief that was distributed to various families during last year’s lockdown.
Speaking after an emergency meeting involving ministers, technocrats and the national COVID-19 taskforce yesterday, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said the decision was taken to avoid other challenges that the government encountered during the first lockdown.
Addressing journalists after their meeting with the Kampala RCC, Lukwago says that if each individual is given 6,000 on a daily basis for the next 42 days, it will amount to 252,000 in total for them to be able to afford two meals a day.
He says the poor should be identified by Local Council I chairpersons and division mayors and the lists be generated immediately because people are not working, yet they need to survive.
