Ugandan police help students get home ahead of public transport suspension
Public transport is to be suspended for 42 days as a Covid-19 mitigation measure while transport fares double in response.
CAPE TOWN, June 9 (ANA) – The Uganda Police Force (UPF) on Wednesday stated on social media that it has provided free transport for students to their home districts in the northern, eastern, south-western and north-western regions of the country.
This comes ahead of a suspension of inter-district public transport on June 10 as one of the government’s mitigation measure against surging cases of Covid-19 in the country.
However, the announcement by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had the unintended consequence of pushing up transport costs.
The UPF’s initiative on Wednesday involved six police buses and 20 trucks to help the students get home.
On Sunday, June 6, Museveni gave an address in which he informed the country of adjusted Covid-19 mitigation measures that include the closure of schools for 42 days after classes were highlighted as a major contributor to the spike in infections.
Inter-district public transport was suspended for this period of 42 days, but unlike other measures that came into effect immediately, the suspension is set to begin on June 10.
“This is to allow our children to go home,” Museveni explained.
However, in response to the announcement of the suspension of inter-district public transport, the industry doubled its fares to make up for the loss of income, NTV reported, prompting the UPF to assist the students.
Uganda is in the midst of its second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) statistics reveal.
The East African country recorded its highest confirmed case count of Covid-19 in one day on June 1, with a total of 1,259 cases.
As of June 6, the Ugandan health ministry has reported a cumulative total of 54,669 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Furthermore, the health ministry stated that there have been a cumulative 47,760 recoveries and 388 total Covid-19-related deaths, while 748,676 people have been vaccinated against the virus.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher