In March 2020, President Kaguta Museveni issued a number of directives which included the suspension of flights to and from Uganda, as well as the closure of border points to anyone else save for cargo trucks and planes.
This meant that a lot of Ugandans would remain stranded abroad until the situation calms, a period that has no time frame. Those stranded have repeatedly called on the government for aid, but mostly to find means of repatriating them back home.
The State Minister for Foreign Affairs in charge of International Cooperation Henry Okello Oryem has provided an update on government interventions on the issues of Ugandans stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oryem has revealed that a select Committee under the supervision of the Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda comprising of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Works, and Ministry of Health has been formed to systematically plan and coordinate assistance for Ugandans stranded abroad.
The Minister informed Parliament that the government has the capacity to repatriate Ugandans and is coordinating registration of Ugandans abroad through the respective Missions/Embassies abroad to plan for the required logistics.
“Some locations may not need repatriation but financial assistance,” Oryem said, adding that this is why “Financial assistance was earlier sent to Ugandan students stranded in Wuhan – Hubei province in China which was then the epicentre in the initial stages of the outbreak of the pandemic.
During President Museveni’s addresses about the COVID-19 situation in the country, he has on several occasions hinted on the possibility of airlifting Ugandans stranded abroad and quarantine them for 14 days.