Buganda Katikkiro warns Public against Social Media Covid-19 misleading information

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga

In December 2019, information started to filter through concerning a lethal virus that was ravaging China. It was later confirmed that it was the Coronavirus, causing Covid-19, on rampage.  As the virus spread to other continents and caused untold devastation, coupled with the lack of cure and vaccine, panic set in leading to all sorts of information circulating on social media from those claiming to have found a remedy to this pandemic.

This misinformation has reached alarming levels to the extent that the World Health Organisation has referred to it as a massive infodemic.

In Uganda the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed on March 21, 2020. This was a 36 year old male returning from Dubai.  Although Uganda is yet to register a Covid-19 death, the country has not been spared the infodemic.

It was in this respect that the Katikkiro came out with a stern warning to the public against the social media videos and messages with claims of cures from sources as obscure as the virus itself.

Speaking from his home in Lweza on April 20, Charles Peter Mayiga pointed out that Uganda has highly competent doctors whose advice about the Coronavirus is enough to guide the country through this crisis.

“The minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine, Dr. Kabanda and the team they lead are very competent doctors who are working round the clock to bring the virus under control and finally defeat it.

You must stop referring to those videos on social media from people claiming to be doctors from Nigeria and America. Who in the first place is sure that those are doctors? Some of those people are just conmen.”

The Katikkiro is the political head of the Buganda kingdom and the Kabaka’s right hand man. He is held in high esteem and enjoys countrywide respect. He is a lawyer by profession and is also regarded as one of the best legal brains in the country. As a member of the Roman Catholic Church, he enjoys close ties with the Church’s leadership.

Mayiga also praised the health officials for the regular updating of the country on the state of affairs concerning the Coronavirus. He stressed that the fact that there was no Covid-19 death so far registered in Uganda is testimony to the expertise of the doctors.

Mayiga urged the public to be contented with the information that the health officials are giving. He warned that people on social media claiming to have got cured of Covid-19 by taking a host of cocktails must not be taken by anyone who values his life and that of others.

“We have doctors here who have treated our own and cured them of Covid-19. You know these doctors; they talk to you and advise you on what to do. Simply follow their advice and things will work out successfully. What else do you want? ”

With the country’s resources and attention directed toward the Coronavirus, some government officials are taking advantage of the crisis to grab property in the areas under their administration.

Mayiga singled out Kabuye the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Ssembabule who he accused of blocking the kingdom’s leadership from stopping people illegally constructing houses on the kingdom land in Mawogola.

“It is only those who steal our land and move it to DR Congo who are out of our reach. But  if you steal our land but do not move it to another country, rest assured that we shall recover it from you no matter when,” he said calling on government to reign in on its officers.

“In 1962 Obote grabbed our land but we managed to recover it. Stealing land is not the same as stealing money; when a person steals money he can easily disappear with it without trace. Even the Palestinians will at one time recover their land that has been forcefully stolen from them.”

RDCs are the president’s representatives in the districts and are in charge of security. Land-grabbing in Uganda has become the order of the day and government officials are always behind these atrocities.

It is puzzling to see soldiers disobeying the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, the President, and no action is taken! The government and security officials supposed to enforce the lockdown are the ones abusing it turning it into an opportunity to gather obscene wealth.

As a result, many families have become homeless leading to food insecurity and hunger. Most hit are the rural areas which are also the hubs of the country’s agricultural activity.  

With agriculture as the backbone of the economy, land-grabbing has led to the drowning of many peasant farmers into levels of poverty previously unheard of in a country with the potential of being the food basket of the region.

In a bid to save Buganda and the whole country from the shame of becoming a basket case, the Katikkiro embarked on an ambitious project to revive agricultural productivity and force poverty out of homesteads.

The project named Buganda ku ntikko- Buganda at the helm- has been embraced by the young and old and is already bearing fruit. It has brought about the revving of commercial farming under the “mmwanyi terimba” drive. This is a phrase meaning that coffee is profitable. The production of food and rearing of animals has also been stepped up. The greatest setback to this well thought out and well implemented project are the mass displacements resulting from land-grabbing.

  The failure of many Ugandans to provide food for their families during the Coronavirus lockdown is partly due to these mass displacements that have impacted on production and led to the precarious situation of living from hand to mouth.

Whether the lockdown ends soon or not, the consequences of the Coronavirus crisis will inevitably hit hard the country due to such injustices meted out on the public by the very people supposed to steer it to recover and rise again.