Of embassies during COVID-19, border shutdowns and repatriation of Ugandans

It was greetings and ululations of "Happy New Year 2020!"

Little did we know that a mega tsunami was on its way and it would soon wreak havoc on nations, both small and mighty; leaving but fear, thousands of corpses and the smell of death. The WHO declared it the novel Covid-19 pandemic. Immediately, the adrenaline rush of self and national preservation was set in, worldwide. Washing hands, wearing face masks, social distancing and quarantine suddenly became common features of daily life. Countries closed their borders, airspaces and went into lockdown.

Entebbe Airport has been closed since March 23rd 2020 to all commercial passenger traffic. Like elsewhere, the announcement to close was made in good faith to delay the spread of the virus and especially to save the lives of Ugandans. As at the time of penning this, Uganda had tested 247,646 persons with 1,075 positive cases, 958 recoveries and 1 death. Compared with other countries, Uganda's performance has been excellent; and not by accident. It has been about leadership and we should be proud of President Museveni for the stewardship and a consistent message. Talk of leadership, I know of countries that have been devastated in terms of deaths and on account of mixed messages or the lack of them. I will not mention them because those who know, know. What I am sure of, is that we do not want to and must not go there. How? Follow the advice of the scientists otherwise, you will die and/or cause death to others. This, we have witnessed.

What then has been our experience as Embassies? At the height of the pandemic in the USA, both our Embassies in New York and Washington, DC were in Covid-19 hotspots and the situation remains to-date. Due to safety considerations, we were advised by the US Federal Government of lockdowns in some locations in USA. To protect our staff, we had to close the Chancery premises and make arrangements to work from home. We were aware of the irony of shutting down Consular services when they were likely to be needed most. We put what we thought were interim telephone and electronic arrangements in place, sent out Consular notices and announcements and prepared to wait out the storm. The same can be said of the other Ugandan Embassies abroad. The new normal, it had become.

When the 32 set-days elapsed and airports did not reopen, we started to receive distress calls from our stranded nationals. In April, we sent out a call for registration of stranded nationals. There was a mood of anxiety, uncertainty and anticipation, which by May, had transformed into desperation. Our staff ensured that we kept open lines of communication and avoided long bouts of radio-silence. We also ensured vigilance, alertness and responsiveness.

By June, we had registered over 350 persons, responded to hundreds of emails and phone calls frankly almost all the time. The office phone lines were forwarding calls to our home phones and we were experiencing palpable, simmering anger from Nationals, bewildered by the absence of any options available to them. The phones were literally ringing off the hook! We received notifications of Ugandans stranded in so many locations, some of which were remote Caribbean Islands with very limited air traffic due to the effects of COVID-19. Visas and extensions began to expire. Schools closed down and stranded students called out to us for help.

We started recording deaths of our nationals among the diaspora. May their souls rest in peace! To add salt to the wound, there was a halt on repatriation of human remains in place. The spectre of the SoP Form and 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Entebbe haunted every prospective traveller and the question of how to acquire a Covid test on-demand in a foreign country hang over us. We digitized it to make submission and storage simpler. We registered and disaggregated lists by location, age, gender and even illness and disability. Finally we were instructed to put in place arrangements for special repatriation flights. Good news.

During one of his televised addresses to the Nation, President Museveni assured the stranded Ugandans that the base had to be secured first. It was now secure. Wise leadership; the others mentioned above, let in their nationals in droves and, in hindsight, probably with the virus that continues to rage.

Virtually every stranded person held a travel voucher going through Europe or the Middle East but several borders and airspaces remained closed to commercial passenger traffic. Moreover, in times like these, budget trans-Atlantic charter flights are hard to come by. Nonetheless, regardless of which Airline we identified for charter, there would be those who would cry foul. Fortunately, Ethiopian Airlines operating over 100 destinations, maintained modest operations from and to Addis Ababa daily. It was our most convenient hub for transfers and charters into Entebbe.

The intangible value of the decision to engage a travel expert with the capacity to solve logistical problems cannot be over-stated. In a pandemic, many things can go wrong. The slightest mishap would have left an already cash-strapped traveller holding a second ticket voucher with no recourse for a refund. We had to be very strategic. Was it really cheaper to let stranded travellers buy tickets directly from an airline?

Chartered flights generally do not come cheap. When we did the math, we found that engaging a travel agent would save each traveller, on average, $500 per ticket. The fare quoted by ET was averaging $2000 per ticket from IAD-EBB if the Embassy guaranteed 100 passengers on the Charter flight. Comparatively, the price charged by the identified travel agent, SATGURU TRAVEL LLC, to use the same ET at $1500 fixed, plus connecting flights, was clearly a good deal for the travellers. Most importantly we had strict instructions not to involve ourselves in the transactions. The last thing we needed were accusations that Embassies are fleecing the public. False as they were, they came anyway.

The benefits of outsourcing the ticketing to a travel agent were numerous. In addition to being pre-approved, SATGURU had offices in Washington DC, Canada, Uganda, a massive international presence, and good international references. Moreover, the agency had experience in arranging repatriation flights for foreign nationals out of Entebbe to the USA and other locations. They offered flexible payment terms (pay in Uganda or pay in the country where stranded) and were willing to hold bookings for 10 days without receiving payment, through Cheques, Wire Transfer, Zelle or mobile money and cash paid to their offices in Uganda.

Were there notable observations? Yes, of two types. First, Ugandans are generally good people. We have received very many messages of appreciation from the travellers and we thank them. But, secondly, we have also seen outbursts in the social media of folks complaining of various things, some of which baseless and outrageous. To them, we also say thank you.

In times like these, perspectives matter. Do I think we made some mistakes? Yes, I do, but we did our utmost to satisfy our nationals. There are no perfect solutions to every problem. Before one vilifies our staff and uses a social media platform to level baseless accusations, consider walking a mile in their shoes. At the end of the day, pandemics and repatriations are not really the sort of thing one can be completely prepared for; but we rose to our call of duty and put the interests of our people first. And it is also about all Uganda Embassies abroad that have risen to the call of duty on account of the repatriation flights that have been flocking into Entebbe Airport with the meticulous support of the parent Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the other MDAs. We got them home, safe and sound.

It continues to be a concerted effort and I thank my colleagues, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare in New York and Ambassador Ruth Acheng in Ottawa as well as all our staff for the harmonized coordination. But I should also single out Margaret Awino Kafeero/Counselor and Ferdinand Kyohairwe/Immigration Attache of Uganda Embassy, Washington D.C and Michael Karugaba /Head of Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their unrelenting hands-on approach.

Kudos to all; Alluta continua. Those still not covered, help is on the way; and remember, the base must stay secure.