Minister Nabakooba Returns COVID-19 Cash; Asks Mityana to use it for repair of grounded Ambulance Vehicles

Kampala – Mityana District Woman MP Judith Nabakooba, has heeded to President Yoweri Museveni’s call to return the controversial COVID 19 money recently allocated to Members of Parliament.

Nabakooba, who is also the Minister for Information Communication Technologies and National Guidance, sent the money amounting to UGX 20m to her District taskforce through her Political Assistant, Ms. Matilda Namawejje Nyanzi today morning.

In a telephone interview engagement with Red Pepper Digital, Hon. Nabakooba revealed that she directed the District taskforce to use her money to repair ambulances to expedite transport of covid-19 suspected person to medical facilities.

“The ambulances are busy during this COVID-19 pandemic period and the health centres – they are attached to- have no funds for repairs,” she said.

Hon. Nabakooba also revealed the funds were delivered to the task force through her Political Assistant, Matilda Namawejje Nyanzi, who double as Publicity Secretary in Mityana District Women Council.

Hon. Nabakooba boasted of being one for the first legislators from Mityana to heed to the President’s call to hand the anti-COVID-19 funds given to them as part of the COVID-19 supplementary expenditures to District Taskforces.

In his address on the update about government’s COVID-19 guidelines, Tuesday evening, President Museveni condemned MPs for allegedly seeking to divert Ugandans from the current war against coronavirus.

“I’m very thankful with Ugandans; they have responded but the UGX20 million by the MPs that caused confusion. It is bad planning but secondly, there were also legal and constitutional issues involved,” President Museveni said.

He added: “It would be morally irreprehensible to give themselves money for personal use when the country is in such a crisis and totally unacceptable to the NRM.”

The Ministry of Health, on Wednesday, April 29, recorded two new cases of the novel coronavirus, pushing Uganda’s count to 81.

The Ministry revealed that the two cases recorded out of the 299 samples tested were a Uganda male, 24, and Burundian refugee, 21, retracted from tests conducted among the community and individuals under quarantine.

It was also disclosed that a total of 2,002 samples tested at Uganda Virus Research Institute on Wednesday with 1,703 samples taken from truck drivers at border points of entry.

The confirmation of the two cases rose Uganda COVID-19 cases to 81 as of April 29.

Of the 81 confirmed cases, it is disclosed that 53 were Ugandans and 18 foreign cases.