600 Ugandans return home next month
Jun 25, 2020
After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowed Ugandans stranded abroad to return home, the first group of 48 returnees arrived on Tuesday from Sudan, Belgium and Netherlands aboard three charter flights
By Juluis Luwemba
A total of 600 people will be repatriated home next month. While receiving Ugandans who returned on Tuesday from Turkey, Sudan, Belgium and the Netherlands, Henry Okello Oryem, the Minister of State for Foreign affairs, said 2,392
Ugandans want to return home from 66 countries, where they claim to be stranded.
"A work plan has been developed to allow the return of an average 300 persons every fortnight, all of whom will have
to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, before being quarantined," Oryem said.
While addressing Parliament on May 28, Sam Kuteesa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the Government was committed to allowing Ugandans stranded abroad to return home in a phased and orderly manner.
Since then, several Ugandans have been returned and are currently being quarantined at different isolation centres. The
first group to return comprised 48 people from Sudan, Belgium and the Netherlands, who flew in aboard three charter flights.
Next month, 70 more Ugandans are expected to return from Southern Africa and about 200 from the United Arab Emirates. "From Afghanistan, we expect 108 Ugandans, 134 from the US and 120 from India," said Oryem.
Dr. Benson Tumwesigye from the health ministry had earlier noted that the return of Ugandans will largely depend on the readiness of the health ministry and airport to handle such passengers.
Relatedly, Ronald Basiima, the second secretary under public diplomacy department, remarked that even though 300 persons are expected to be repatriated every after two weeks, this may depend on the availability of flights and
the readiness of passengers.
"Much as many Ugandans registered, not all of them might be ready to travel at the same time," noted Basiima.
Recently, three large executive tents, funded by the Department for International Development, were mounted by the World Food Programme(WFP) to handle airport health checks.
"The tents will enable us to address COVID-19 requirements, such as social distancing, temperature screening, profiling
and observation of arriving passengers," said Eng. Ayub Sooma, the director airports and aviation security.
Standard operating procedures issued by the health ministry dictate that all incoming passengers shall be required
to test for COVID-19 before boarding the plane to Uganda.
Those leaving Uganda for other countries shall be required to have valid health certificates from the Ministry of Health or undergo a rapid test at the airport before departure.
According to the new plan, all doors at the airport terminal are to be converted to automatic sensor opening and all water taps will be replaced with non-touchable taps.
Vianney Luggya, the aviation public affairs manager, earlier said the aviation authority already submitted a requisition of sh150b to government to enable Entebbe Airport adequately cater for all the health-planned programmes.