Kikuubo business centre, shopping malls and arcades in Kampala have been warned not to re-open without the certificate of compliance from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) despite President Yoweri Museveni’s order for them to resume business following the expiration of the 42 days of lockdown.
Delivering his Covid-19 address on Friday, Museveni permitted Kikuubo, malls and arcades to reopen but under strict observance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
However, according to the Minister of Kampala Metropolitan Affairs Hajjat Minsa Kabanda,the business centres must first comply with all SOPs and also get approval from KCCA before resuming business.
Speaking to journalists at Uganda Media Centre on Saturday, Hajjat Kabanda said the affected parties should wait until KCCA is satisfied that those opening meet the required conditions set by the President.
This means the reopening of city business centres may be delayed for some days as they get clearance from the responsible authorities.
Asked whether this doesn’t run contrary to what the President said, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance Dr Chris Baryomunsi said whatever the minister is doing is the correct interpretation of the presidential directives.
Baryomunsi called upon the public to comply with all the SOPs in order to avoid Uganda slipping into a third wave of the Coronavirus. He said the reason why the government decided to partially open up the country was to have a balance between saving lives and livelihoods.
“I call upon all of us to take on these measures in good faith because they are intended to see that all of us see tomorrow. I would also want to say that, let’s do self-policing. Let’s not wait for security people to alert us to say put on the mask. Let’s know that that is a duty whether somebody is seeing you or not,” Baryomunsi said.
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