American general donates sh370m for COVID-19 fight

COVID-19  |DONATION

A friend in need is a friend indeed, so goes an old saying. Such is Wesley Clark, a US General who has donated $100,000 (sh370m) to fight the spread of COVID-19 in Uganda.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, handed the money to Emmanuel Katongole, the chairperson of National COVID-19 Relief Task Force, yesterday.
Rugunda said Clark, who he referred to as a freedom fighter, had given the money to his friend, President Yoweri Museveni. The latter had handed the money to Rugunda, who also passed it on.

"Museveni received the money and decided that it should go to the National COVID-19 Fund, " said Rugunda,
"Let me take this opportunity to hand over $100,000 (sh370m) in cash, " Rugunda said during a brief ceremony to hand over Clark's contribution at his office.

Robert Kabushenga, the Vision Group chief executive officer and Pastor Joshua Lwere, both members of the National COVID-19 Relief Task Force, attended the ceremony.
In a brief speech, Katongole thanked the President and Rugunda for their leadership and steering the fight against COVID-19.
"I express our gratitude to President Yoweri Museveni for always making friends and friends of Uganda, " Katongole said.

Katongole, just like Rugunda, described Clark as a freedom fighter, saying he had fought all his life to ensure that there is peace in the world. Clark was once the commander of the US forces in NATO. "He came at a time when we needed him most, " said Katongole, adding that the money will be put to good use.
inter-agency team Rugunda also said the Government had intensified its efforts to defeat the pandemic.He revealed that Museveni had set up a new inter-agency technical team to re-enforce the existing committees on COVID-19.

"The Government is working with urgency which has been prompted by the death of some Ugandans," Rugunda said as he answered questions on how different they were going to address COVID-19 after the death of five people in about two weeks.

"This is an indication COVID-19 is a killer. Let me make a clarion call that we are all soldiers in the fight against the disease. We should look after our brothers and sisters, " said Rugunda.

The first case of COVID-19 in Uganda was reported on March 21. Currently, Uganda has 1,254 cases.