The endangered community of the Batwa living in districts of Kisoro, Kanungu and Rubanda have appealed to government to come to their rescue and be considered among the vulnerable groups while giving out Covid-19 relief money.
The National Covid-19 Taskforce chaired by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja approved several groups that will benefit from the proposed Shs100,000 Covid-19 cash handouts where vulnerable people from Kampala Metropolitan areas, cities and municipalities are slated to benefit.
The groups include among others; taxi drivers, boda boda riders, bars, slum dwellers, salon operators, people who load and offload cargo, and people who were dealing in petty businesses before President Yoweri Museveni announced the second lockdown.
Batwa who live in Kisoro and Rubanda districts are living in extreme poverty and are asking government to also be included in the vulnerable groups to benefit from the relief .
The Batwa community says that they have been hit most as they have been working as causal labors and they get paid in terms of food and money but now that most businesses were closed they are suffering a lot. They are now asking government to prioritize them as the most vulnerable in giving out the relief funds.
Gad Semajyere, the Executive Director of Batwa Development organization, who himself is a Mutwa from Bufundi sub county In Rubanda district says that as the Batwa community they have been neglected for long since government doesn’t consider them as Ugandans. He says in the last lockdown they were not given relief but others received their packages.
Bernard Mbereyinka The coordinator Kisoro concern for marginalized people organization described vulnerable categories of people as boda boda riders, orphans, Batwa, single mothers, private school teachers among others.
He welcomed the government’s move of giving relief to vulnerable groups of people but at the same time expressed doubt about the transparency of the whole process of identifying the would be beneficiaries.
Mbereyinka said the relief funds should be channeled to save the crippling hospitals in Uganda.
Stephen Kasyaba the Rubanda LC5 boss said the office of the Prime Minister and the National Covid 19 task force should give the Batwa community relief since they have been affected by the lock down and they are in dire need of food.
Kasyaba also alsed government to consider Ugandans living with HIV among the vulnerable groups that will receive money from OPM as part of the lock down package.
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