Police Raid on Bars Uncovers Hundreds Flouting Guidelines Amid Surging Covid-19 Cases

Police in Kampala are holding more than 1,000 bar owners, their staff and clients arrested on Saturday night following security’s impromptu raid on bars, with an aim of enforcing Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

The public has for sometime raised concerns over what they call selective enforcement of SOPs by security claiming that several bars in Kampala and other parts of the country continue to operate in disregard of government directives aimed at reducing the spread of the virus.

Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy spokesperson, ASP Luke Owoyesigire says during their operation last night, different bars in the Kampala Metropolitan Area were found operating normally, prompting them to arrest the suspects and as well impound their motor vehicles.

“A total of 1,100 suspects have been arrested and over 50 motor vehicles have been impounded,” Owoyesigire says.

“We retaliate that bars are not yet opened. Police will not hesitate to arrest any suspects found violating stipulated guidelines,” Owoyesigire adds.

He says the suspects arrested will be produced in courts of law on offences of doing a negligent act likely to spread an infectious disease.

Last week, police arrested a total of 2,124 people on suspicion that the flouted the health SOPs and curfew timings. A total of 445 motor vehicles and 2,088 motorcycles were impounded in related operations.

The development comes amid surge in the COVID19 cases in Uganda attributed to many people being complacent to the existing measures and less cautious.

Latest figures by the Ministry of Health indicate that results of COVID-19 tests done on June 3, 2021 confirm 670 new cases out of 4,643 samples tested rasing the country’s cumulative confirmed cases to 51,676 and 634 active cases. Uganda has so far lost 374 lives due COVID19.

While addressing the nation on Saturday last week, President Yoweri Museveni blamed the rising numbers of cases in these areas on negligence by the city dwellers that he said have ignored the recommended personal preventive measures against COVID-19.

The President convened a full scale national COVID-19 task force meeting on Wednesday which made several recommended several preventive measures to curb the further spread of the disease. They President is expected to address the nation later today on the same.

I met the National Taskforce on COVID19 this afternoon at State House Entebbe. I will address the Nation on Sunday 6th June at 8pm on the steps we have decided to take to curb the new wave.

— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) June 2, 2021

Museveni said on Saturday that the agreed-upon guidelines in the National Task Force meeting will be fully implemented to avoid choking the health system with many cases.