How exactly the UGX21Bn was expended on locusts is still a mystery. Oh! The UGX10Bn supplementary budget for parliamentarians pay-out; how did that end? This has been the norm in the country. Complacency of the resigned public has created state leeway to operate without consequence.

Perhaps not shockingly, we have authoritatively learned that a ghost agency is claiming UGX31Bn from the consolidated fund. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has liaised with an unknown entity called the Presidential Scientific Initiative on Epidemics (PRESIDE) instigated by the Senior Presidential Adviser on epidemics, Dr Monica Musenero, to finance ‘research’ projects related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

MOSTI, acting as the legal accounting entity in the agreement, has earmarked the handsome sums to allegedly be utilized for projects that will be approved by PRESIDE for developing vaccines, diagnostics and drugs for Covid19. It can be seen from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two parties that this ghost entity will monitor and evaluate the projects it approves.

Oddly, PRESIDE will essentially be overseeing projects that are already running and fully funded! In our possession is an MoU between the Ministry and PRESIDE. Under para 2.3 of the same, the latter has allegedly been constituted and authorized for operational implementation, supervision and management of the projects related to the pandemic.

Yet, the president has not made any public mention of this entity. When we reached out to the MOSTI Permanent Secretary, Mr. David O. O Obong, he promised to get back to us. However, our relentless reminders passed in vain. The Senior Press Secretary to His Excellency, Mr. Don Innocent Wanyama, laughed off the possible existence of any such entity; noting that we sounded like ‘civil society guys.’

This stands out especially because the son of Kaguta has made it habitual to brief the country about any developments regarding the virus and entities entrusted to curb it. The absence of press coverage for a non-military initiative that will cost government a staggering UGX.31Bn is diametrically opposed to the government policies of transparency.

Perusing the MoU, we observe that whereas PRESIDE has been awarded UGX.15.7Bn for equipment costs as well as UGX.15BN for operational costs, the ministry too, retained UGX.3Bn and UGX.5Bn for equipment and operational costs for the same Covid-19 related research. A further UGX.7.9Bn was allotted for a textile manufacturing unit.

Among the projects to be ‘handled’ by PRESIDE is a self-amplifying NRA by Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) which was slated to get UGX.700M. Yet, there is already an ongoing research project by the Imperial College London at UVRI doing exactly the same.

In addition, a research project for Immune Therapy Convalescent Plasma at Makerere University is already underway and funded by the university innovation fund. However, the PRESIDE budget shows that it will grant UGX.700M for the same research project to be run by Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) at the same premises – Makerere.

Also, JCRC is to get an additional UGX.500M to conduct an antiviral Covid -19 therapeutic intervention research which is included in a bigger research project that is also already funded.

Despite the budget allocation discrepancies by this ghost agency, the Solicitor General has, questionably of course, approved an application to clear the MoU between PRESIDE and the ministry.

One’s curiosity is peaked! There are billions of taxpayer monies at stake. What justification can be given for the existence of this mystery entity? Why are astounding billions being allocated to projects that are already running and well-funded? Why is there a lack of press coverage for this entity?

It is quite likely that we may get a remake of the UGX.10BN saga; wherein the perpetrators fire-fight as they grapple for justification of creating the ghost agency! The official in charge of PRESIDE, is a Presidential Adviser whose influence over how the President proceeds with the situation in Uganda cannot be overlooked.

Dr Musenero is one of President Museveni’s oversized list of ‘advisors’ on whether to protract the lockdown or not. They are the same that may influence the factors considered to evaluate the Covid19 infection graph. It is noteworthy that numerous sums will be thrown at Covid-19 research as long as the virus poses a threat to the public. Simply, it is the new lake in which to dip the net!

Seeing as this is not information that is protected by law from public knowledge as having national sensitivity, the public would be entitled to know of it. This entitlement is made more definite by the fact that a great deal of money is being fraudulently issued. There is a need to maintain transparency in government operations considering the developing trend of wasteful expenditure.

In a not so dissimilar manner from corrupt operations, the gradual release of the UGX.31BN would result in unaccounted for funds. Their expenditure will be shadowed behind the projects that are already financed while the actual money is consumed by the mafias’ wallets!

Shakespeare wittily noted in King Lear, ‘Like flies to the wanton boys we are to the gods; they kill us for sport!’ It often seems like the wanton Ugandan government makes us, the citizens, Shakespeare’s flies. We are helpless creatures at their mercies! Hold the line…

It must however be stressed here that while Uganda embarked on those measures to combat HIV/AIDS, the rest of the world never adopted the same measures but managed to deal with it in their own way.

Although the AIDS pandemic remains a real threat to human kind even when there is no known vaccine to deal with it, the world has learnt to live with it. It seems to have set a precedent that pandemics can be handled selectively from country to country – vaccine or no vaccine.

The corona virus which has so far ravaged the globe for the last 8 to 9 months misled the scientists to prescribe the same measures for the whole world, yet it has NOT had the same impact for all the countries.

While it has managed to claim more than a thousand lives in 24 hours in some countries, Uganda has not lost a single person to Covid-19. This means Uganda should have an approach that reflects the impact of the corona virus. But as of now, it’s becoming very clear that the Ugandan government is using the Covid-19 pandemic as an instrument of oppression and suppression of Ugandans.

The facts

It’s been four months since Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni announced restrictions yet, paradoxically speaking, ever since his impositions on March 17^th 2020, Ugandans have not interfaced with the Corona Virus as no Ugandan has perished due to the virus!

In his post, Yoweri Museveni takes his time to make a decisive step about lifting the lockdown. Almost the entire country has run out of patience and is requesting for a compete relaxation of restrictions that were imposed in the wake of the emergence of the virus.

The schools, bars, salons, motor cyclists (boda-bodas), worshiping places (churches and mosques), lodges, commercial buildings (arcades) et cetra, are all still closed.

The loss of the evangelical movement

The evangelical church which is known to be very close to the Ugandan president and NRM is already getting agitated and are craving for an immediate opening up of the churches.

Pastor Joseph Serwada, who happens to be one of the leaders of the religious leader’s movement, and a known ardent supporter of President Museveni has viciously lamented the continued lockdown that is not justified by statistics of fatalities to Covid19.

Speaking on Sunday morning, 19^th July 2020, on the program that runs from 6am to 8am on his impact radio, Pastor Serwada said that the Covid19 ‘threat power of March 2020’ does not possess the same ‘threat power of the Covid19 of July 2020’.

He said that when the president called all the religious leaders at state house to explain why he was going to impose the lockdown, he explained that the virus was likely to kill very many Ugandans if the government doesn’t impose the lockdown.

However, four months down the road, no single Ugandan has died of Covid19.

Pastor Serwada then made a statement which had hallmarks of an ultimatum when he said that if President Museveni doesn’t say anything about the fate of the religious activities, he (Serwada) will not speak about the corona virus any more. The pastor also revealed that Covid19 has become more of a commercial venture than a pandemic.

Pastor Serwadda’s remarks come at a time when another Pastor Kiganda engineered anti-lockdown protests by wearing sacks as a sign of protest at the continued closure of churches and worshiping places in general.

Another religious leader called Pastor Augustine Yiga was jailed for several months for suggesting that Uganda was not supposed to endure a lockdown because there was no Corona Virus in Uganda.

The political terrain

As the political campaigns hit high gear around the country, President Museveni is faced with a very difficult task of appeasing the evangelical fraternity, which has been very loyal to him, by opening up or; maintaining the lock down and face the consequences of losing countrywide support.

The owners of the commercial buildings (the arcades) have already staged demonstrations demanding to be allowed to operate. President Museveni is set to address the country on Tuesday, 21^st July 2020, most of these sector owners only want to hear him open up the economy.

During his last Covid-19 address, the Ugandan president made a mess of things when he only allowed personal cars to add another passenger (on top of the previous three) in their vehicles, as a sign of relaxing the restrictions leaving Ugandans very frustrated. He had promised to address the country after 14 days of the previous address, but had been dodging around, making himself look more deceitful.

As the political season gets into high gear, most presidential candidates are already making political inroads of support around the country. One of them, Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) has already taken advantage of President Museveni’s intransigence and generated a lot of countrywide support from the masses.

Conspiracy theorists believe that President Museveni has deliberately locked out sectors like the boda-bodas because of their proclivity to support the opposition, particularly Bobi Wine.

There are intelligence reports that the boda-bodas are just a whisper away from staging mass protests in the city which might have bigger political implications for a government that has lost a lot of credibility in the cause of the fight against Covid19.

Just as Pastor Serwada said earlier on, most Ugandans have come to regard the fight against Covid-19 as a commercial venture that is enriching a few government officials close to President Museveni than a health undertaking.

The Covid-19 trends

At the moment, the corona virus has killed over 600,000 people all over the world but Uganda has not lost a single person to covid-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) which issued the guidelines that included the lockdown had suggested that some countries with fewer fatalities were not supposed to adopt the same tough measures as the countries with high fatality rates.

Nevertheless, the Ugandan government has gone on to adopt measures much tougher than those in countries which have lost thousands of people to Covid19. Yet, it has no structures to deal with the welfare of an idle population.

For instance, while the school system and the entire transport system of China which lost thousands of people to Covid19 in general and Wuhan in particular have opened up, Uganda is still under lockdown.

While Sweden, Denmark, Germany, USA, Italy and a host of other countries which were hit hard by the virus have allowed most activities (including sports activities like football) to resume, Uganda is still under lockdown.

The fundamental aspect of Uganda’s lockdown is that it has ceased to be a health guideline designed to avert the spreads of the corona virus and become an instrument for suppressing Ugandans.

Conclusion

President Museveni’s address on Tuesday 21^st July 2020 is going to be very decisive in the political fortunes of the NRM and president Museveni in general.

One thing for sure is that president Museveni is most unlikely to relax the restrictions including the much-dreaded curfew and continue using covid-19 as an instrument of suppression. it hurts Ugandans that Tanzania which lost more people to covid19, has already relaxed almost all restrictions.

DISCLAIMER: Any and all views expressed in the article are not those of The Investigator News. They are an expression of the author’s personal opinion. Usage, of any kind, of the information herein is at the user’s own risk. The Investigator News shall not be liable for any consequences arising from such usage.

It has been nine months since Covid-19 broke out with devastating effects. Yet, there is no sign of a vaccine. The virus has greatly exposed the ineptitude and laziness of the medical science community.

In the modern era, with the technological advancement that’s occurred over the last century, you wouldn’t expect a medical condition to devastate the world like the Corona Virus has managed.

What is the medical science fraternity doing? The preliminary projections show that a vaccine for the virus is anticipated to be ready in the first quota of 2021. Yet, you may be shocked to know that Covid19 isn’t the only virus for which a vaccine hasn’t been discovered by medical scientists.

For instance, in the last 30 years or so; HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika and Severe Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have emerged. Despite the long time since their insurgence, no vaccine has been discovered for any. Mankind has been lucky that those viruses emerged and subsided without minimal impact. All the while, little credit would be given to medical scientists. In fact, there are popular allegations that a vaccine for flu has not yet been found.  Flu is treated with immunity boosting drugs – not a direct vaccine.

The Placebo Approach

The same approach has been used against Covid19 (which can rightly be regarded as an advanced flu) with some degree of success.  Ugandan medics have treated Covid19 patients with a combination of hydroxychloroquine, erythromycin and an addition of some vitamin D and C boosters.

This signifies that the direct vaccine for covid-19 shouldn’t be faraway. There is clear evidence which shows that SARS, Covid19 and flu are closely related because they affect the respiratory system. Ordinarily, you would expect the scientists to have found the cure, but they haven’t.

The rapid technological advancement, especially in the field of Information Technology (IT), seems to have undermined other spheres of science. For instance, the emergence of the internet – a global information harbour – seems to have made other scientists to plunge into some sort of complacency.

While previous centuries’ scientists relied on their intellectual powers to come up with great innovations, 21^st century scientists simply browse the internet for answers to the prevailing challenges. That is the tragedy faced by the 21^st century!

This google phenomenon has undermined all spheres of creativity in the 21^st century. Most works in art, literature, science and innovation are all traced more than fifty years back to the old generation.

In fact, there are suggestions that SARS which rocked the world in 2003 was fought using 19^th century models! Even then, the vaccine to cure SARS was not conclusively discovered.

This obviously means that the field of medical science has NOT been active enough to deal with the challenges of emerging diseases.

The Great Conspiracy

When Covid19 emerged, almost all countries were caught off guard. The epicentre in Wuhan China, had no option but to cover up in connivance with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Then, when it spread all over the world, the only option for the scientists was to offer threat after threat of the pandemic spreading havoc all over the world. The 21^st century health experts and researchers are busy peddling frights about the possible emergence of a second wave of the corona virus which they allege will be more devastating than the first.

They further speculate (according to the leader of WHO) that the second wave of Covid19 is likely to emerge from Africa. Now, what is the basis for this sort of scaremongering? Is it a researched or scientific finding?

My view is that these speculators from WHO want to convince African governments to extend the lockdown so that the world economies can collapse completely.

Yet they had to focus their energies in finding a permanent cure for the virus by interrogating the following facts;

Why not quarantine animals

To fight a disease, you need to know its source.  When SARS (a known cousin of Covid19) broke out in 2003, the Malaysians and Chinese slaughtered all the pigs that were recognized as the source of the virus.

But it’s disturbing enough to note that covid-19 broke out, there was no action taken on the animals. The animals which are known to have been the source have neither been isolated nor quarantined to the passing of the virus to humans.

Is it negligence, mere oversight or lack of proper evidence from the science community?

Do Africans have stronger covid-19 resistant immunity?

To this day and date, Uganda hasn’t lost a single person to the Corona Virus. And you don’t need rocket science to deduce why no Ugandan has died so far. It has nothing to do with advanced medical facilities or scientific reasoning.

You can only speculate that Africans in general and Ugandans in particular seem to have stronger immunity that can resist succumbing to Covid19 and respiratory diseases in general.

That explains why there was no case of ZIKA virus or SARS on the African continent.  Even the corona virus has failed to have the same impact in Africa that it has had in America, Europe and Asia. Although it’s not a scientific finding, its being deduced from the fatality figures around the world that the black Africans have suffered fewer fatalities than any other race in the world.

There are many countries where more Corona Virus patients from the black race have healed than perished. However, it’s a pity that the Scientists have not yet had a say on this race-virus infection pattern.

The age pattern element

According to figures, more elderly people have perished at the hands of the corona virus than younger people. This shows that the virus attacks soft vulnerable old people.

What does this mean? There is a stronger possibility that if older people had been systematically quarantined, it would have saved some lives.

Again, despite the glaring evidence, the scientists have not come up with a clear position about the age-virus infection pattern. Instead they are also speculating, as ordinary people do.

Why are the wealthy not dying 

Some of the most influential people to have been affected by the corona virus include; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, Arsenal football manager Mikel Arteta, Belgian soccer player Maroune Fellaini and Chelsea football star Calum Hudson Odoi, among others.

It’s interesting to note that none of those influential people have died of the Corona Virus. Should we therefore safely conclude that the virus selectively spares wealthy people?

Scientists should interrogate why all these people have recovered from Covid19 in spite of the fact that there is no vaccine to treat it.

Is there a correlation between wealth /poverty and the covid-19 virus? Where some famous people have died, you may find that they were of advanced age. But it’s disappointing to note that the scientists have failed to make a clear pronouncement on this.

Climate/Weather pattern

Another interesting pattern that can help the science community concerns the observed fact that Covid19 thrives in colder climates. Since the virus broke out in late 2019, the curve has seen more fatalities in countries with colder climates than those with hotter climates. At the same time, African countries with tropical climates don’t seem so bothered.

Why is the science fraternity not clarifying this?

The Vitamin D element

According to scientific findings, the human body needs vitamin D and vitamin C to boost its immunity to ably fight infections like Covid19.  Vitamin D is derived from the human interaction with the sunshine. Now, if the country undergoes a winter season, its citizens are deprived of that crucial vitamin D.

This means that those citizens become vulnerable to communicable diseases; Covid19 and other related respiratory diseases because at that time the body is at its weakest immunity capacity.

Since the human body thrives by picking vitamin D from the sunshine, it’s more of a logical conclusion that the virus can be more menacing during winter.

So, it goes without need of emphasis that the tropical weather – as it’s assured of prolonged sunshine is in a more enviable position of not being a victim of the virus.

It’s therefore clear that African countries should never have been subjected to the complete lock-downs that we have witnessed so far.

Conclusion

Most importantly, the science community should be condemned for failing to live to expectations. Why should the world wait for all these months for the corona vaccine?

DISCLAIMER: Any and all views expressed in the article are not those of The Investigator News. They are an expression of the author’s personal opinion. Usage, of any kind, of the information herein is at the user’s own risk. The Investigator News shall not be liable for any consequences arising from such usage.

The unintended consequence has been the termination of the real livelihoods of thousands of people around many countries, including Uganda. Most have adopted rigid lockdown guidelines. The result of adopting the lockdown where people have been stopped from working, is a classic analogical case of digging one deep hole to fill a deeper hole.

We still insist that the lockdown was not meant to be the pillar in the fight against Covid19. The overall results have proved that countries like Italy, Germany, England, USA, Sweden and others which have relaxed and opened up have NOT suffered any resurgence of the virus. Yet those countries incurred more deaths during their lockdown periods from March to June this year.

This is an indictment on the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists that came up with the idea of shutting down as an instrument for fighting the corona virus. Their lack of judgment is more pronounced in their hope that the virus will be defeated when they came up with a vaccine. What if the vaccine is not found for very many years to come?

Lifting the Restrictions 

Indeed, some governments which have previously been hit hard by the virus have opted to relax the lockdown and allowed most of what is considered normal to operate. Countries which were affected harshly like Germany have for instance allowed cafes, bars and schools to operate.

In contrast, Uganda which has not yet lost a single person to the virus has all its places of worship closed. The schools, bars and salons are still closed; transport still faces some restrictions (especially motorcycles which are prohibited from carrying passengers).

Oddly, although most Ugandans have heard about the virus and the rising number of infections, the infected individuals have been beheld by a miserly few. It has been a case of news reports on television and radio.

In fact, although the general public believes that the corona virus is indeed a menacing pandemic, there is a general feeling that the procedures to avert it have been blown out of proportion. There is a general feeling that the world leaders had to first interrogate whether the health measures which WHO instituted were well informed or out of panic.

The Statistics are not Catastrophic

If you go into ratios and stats you will find that while there are alarming levels of infections, the deaths are relatively not as alarming. Just half a million people have perished to the corona virus in the globe that has over 6.7 billion people; this cannot be considered a catastrophe, by any means.

Indeed, there are more people recovering from corona virus than those perishing. The lockdown was premised on the hope that the virus will come and go within one or two months. However, a high number of infections continue to be registered all over the world.

Better still, it’s one thing for people to test positive for Covid19 but dying of the same is a completely different story. We should debate along those lines. For instance, while America has lost over 132,000 people to covid-19, Uganda has lost none!

Despite this good news, the Ugandan government is still very eager to pose as an endangered country by virtue of the people who have tested positive to covid19. Why should Uganda adopt the same measures like Brazil, America and other countries that have been hit hard by the virus? Truly, more Ugandans have died of the enforcement of directives by the security agencies than of the corona virus.

It’s clear that the NRM government is not looking at the figures and trends of the virus in the country. It’s rather operating basing on the figures from Brazil, America and other such countries. If Ugandans are recovering even before a vaccine is found then we should be confident that Covid19 can be contained without sacrificing people’s livelihoods.

We should be honest and concede that mankind can live side by side with the corona virus, like it has with the previous pandemics which have had a devastating effect on the world.

As we speak now, there is no direct vaccine for Ebola, AIDS, SARS and the ZIKA virus. Nevertheless, those pandemics are somehow forgotten!

We are almost certain that the vaccine for the corona virus will not be found in the near future. There is a high chance of it simply subsiding without the healing powers of a vaccine or health guidelines that are crippling people’s livelihoods.

And the narrative now is that ‘registering a big number of Covid19 patients and a high death rate from the same are dissimilar’. The implication is that our basis for the fight against the pandemic should rely on the number of deaths vis a vis that of infections.

If we base on the number of infections to institute tough measures, we miss the whole point. Experience has so far proved that most African countries took the drastic measures to enforce the lock-down before they knew what the fracas was all about.

Uganda doesn’t have the structure to handle a lockdown

African countries based on scanty information from WHO to force their citizens into self-isolation; even when it was clear that they don’t have the necessary social economic structures to shut down their economies. As time goes by, the world will come to realize that the lock-down was one of the most idiotic measures ever undertaken in the fight of the corona virus.

The Ugandan government, for instance, caged people in a complete lockdown in the entire country for more than two months but failed to feed even one percent of the population. When the population cried out, the government dispatched food; rotten beans full of stones and poor quality posho. This substandard material, they managed to distribute in only Kampala and Wakiso. Although these governments couldn’t feed their citizens, they made it a criminal offence for anyone to volunteer direct assistance to the suffering people in the form of food grants.

The Ugandan government has so far collected over shs40bn from willing citizens, but it’s unlikely that it will be accounted for.

The health care system is in shambles but government hasn’t the idea of utilizing those newly generated resources to revamp it. Yet there are plenty of case studies to learn from in other countries. For instance, in China, when Covid19 broke out, the Chinese government managed to build a make shift hospital in just two months!

What has the Ugandan government done so far?

Well, the Ugandan government doesn’t deserve any credit for the fight against the pandemic. Why? They were accomplices in allowing it into the country in the first place – when they took long to close Entebbe airport.

The majority of the Covid19 cases have been imported into the country – there being a primary responsibility of government to deal with incoming persons. Their main preoccupation has been to stop people from working and incarcerating so many Ugandans in prisons for breaching presidential directives.

However, the one question President Museveni and his Covid19 team need to answer is, ‘what will happen if the virus remains and; without a vaccine?

Will the lockdown which has kept our children at home, hindered various Ugandans’ abilities to earning a living, for the last four months, stay in place forever; if the virus stays for good?

CONCVACT is an outcome of the virtual conference on Africa’s Leadership Role in COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access held on 24-25 June 2020. The conference was hosted by Africa CDC and presided over by the Chairperson of the African Union, H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat.

“Success in developing and providing access to a safe vaccine requires an innovative and collaborative approach, with significant local manufacturing in Africa. We need to support the contribution of African scientists and healthcare professionals. We need to act with urgency,” said H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa.

CONCVACT is being implemented as part of the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 endorsed by African Ministers of Health on 22 February 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and approved by the Bureau of the Assembly of African Union Heads of State and Government on 26 March 2020. Driven by the principles of cooperation, coordination, collaboration and communication, the strategy aims to prevent severe illness and deaths due to COVID-19 infection in African Union Member States, minimize social disruption, and mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19.

Rolling out a vaccine in Africa is key to achieving all the three pillars of the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19: limiting transmission, preventing deaths and laying the foundation for socio-economic recovery that should bring Africa’s integration agenda back on track.

“It is critically important for academics, researchers and the private sector to work together and use all available platforms for the development of COVID-19 vaccine, which will enable Africa to regain momentum for achieving the goals of the continental integration agenda” said H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat.

CONCVACT aims to secure more than 10 late stage vaccine clinical trials as early as possible on the continent by bringing together global vaccine developers and funders, as well as African organizations that facilitate clinical trials. The goal is to ensure that sufficient data is generated on the safety and efficacy of the most promising vaccine candidates for the African population so they can be confidently rolled out in Africa once vaccines are approved.

CONCVACT will focus on dismantling the most critical barriers to clinical trials by:

1. establishing partnerships with leading vaccine developers to host select late-stage trial sites in Africa;
2. identifying countries and regions where opportunities to conduct trials are most promising (e.g. availability of strong local trial sponsors, good clinical practice investigators, access to granular epidemiologic data, support from regulatory bodies);
3. setting up an independent review board to provide guidance, assistance and oversight to clinical trials (e.g. regulatory, ethics, safety, etc.);
4. engaging with African and global media and key opinion leaders on the continent to increase public awareness of the need and importance of hosting well-regulated clinical trials in Africa;
5. providing objective, fact-based scientific guidance for interpreting the results of clinical trial data;
6. engaging global donors that are interested in investing in scaling-up vaccine distribution in Africa to raise sufficient funds to support the trials.

“There is urgent need for global solidarity, cooperation, and appropriate regulation to ensure equitable access to potential COVID-19 vaccine. The African Union will continue to partner with GAVI, WHO and other relevant stakeholders in the development of COVID-19 vaccine,” said H.E. Amira Elfadil Mohammed, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission.

CONCVACT will be co-chaired by Dr Salim Abdool Karim, Head of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for COVID-19 in South Africa; Dr Samba Sow, Director-General, Center for Vaccine Development of Mali; and Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC. Other members of the consortium will include representatives of key organizations supporting clinical trials on the continent, including the WHO, The Africa Academy of Sciences’ Clinical Trials Community, Institute Pasteur, African Vaccine Regulatory Forum, African Medicines Agency, NEPAD, and others.

“The African initiative to develop a vaccine against the new coronavirus is welcomed and encouraged. Through this initiative, Africa will be at the forefront as the world seeks to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Prof. Moustafa Mijiyawa, Chair of the Africa CDC Governing Board and Minister of Health of Togo.

Africa CDC will embark on a multi-stakeholder partnerships drive to advance CONCVACT and other subsidiary initiatives, to ensure broad endorsement and support across Africa, by institutions and the African people. “Africa must play an active role in securing an effective vaccine against COVID-19. This is about our future and our development,” said Dr John Nkengasong.

The report, “Digital Solutions In A Time of Crisis” shows the economy has suffered from the triple shocks of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) related economic and social disruption, a locust invasion and floods. Up to three million Ugandans could fall into poverty due to economic hardship and a lack of alternative means of survival.

Global and local restrictions in the movement of people and goods and provision of services to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in lower consumption, loss of jobs and a 43{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} reduction in remittances. Due to a sharp drop in tax revenues, Government has also been forced to borrow much more to continue providing services to Ugandans.

Uganda, however, remains at low risk of debt distress based on the April 2020 joint World Bank-IMF debt sustainability analysis. With total debt service (interest and principal due) expected to average around 55 percent of government revenues over the next three years, there is a need to cut back on non-priority spending in order to provide essential public services such as health, education, water and sanitation and electricity.

A more widespread pandemic could pose significant risks to the outlook, as well as any further significant locust invasion. Weak economic growth in the post COVID-19 period will continue to reduce overall consumption and commodity demand. In addition, crude oil prices are expected to average $35 per barrel this year and $42 per barrel in 2021. Although this will limit external inflationary pressures for import-dependent Uganda, these prices are below the estimated breakeven price of $60 for oil production in Uganda. This could negatively impact Uganda’s prospects of becoming an oil producer within the next four to five years.

The increased use of digital technologies during the COVID-19 lockdown such as mobile money, on-line shopping, on-line education, digital disease surveillance and monitoring, and dissemination of public health messages shows the great potential to support faster economic recovery and strengthen resilience against similar shocks.

“The digital space in Uganda is very innovative – and has quickly adapted during the pandemic. Fintechs have offered payment options, and digital solutions have reinforced and enabled the health sector’s calls to social distance and limit movement and contact. These solutions, if upscaled and developed to their potential would boost the digital economy and maximize its benefits to Ugandans,” said Tony Thompson, World Bank Country Manager for Uganda.

The report points to the current national ID system as one of the successes of technological advancement, which can be leveraged to support more efficient e-government systems and authentication by the public and private sectors while expanding financial inclusion, strengthening social protection delivery, supporting immigration control and refugee management.

While Uganda has made reasonable technological strides, the analysis notes that it still lags with a phone penetration rate of 69.2{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} of the population, far below the average of 84{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe}for Africa. There are gender and geographical gaps in access; for example, 46{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} t of female adults have access to mobile phone compared to 58{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} of male adults. Similarly, adults in urban areas are more likely to own mobile phones (70{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe}) and have access to the internet (25{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe}) compared to adults in rural areas (46{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe}own phones and 5 percent have internet access).

The economic update makes several recommendations for the economy and ICT sector, including implementing supportive policies and regulation, review of taxation in the digital economy, leveraging technology to support the health sector and economic recovery through increased digitalization of agribusiness and manufacturing, expansion of social safety nets, and transparency and accountability of government’s response to COVID-19. It also recommends the development of a coherent strategy of ecosystem support and catalyzing regional and global integration of Uganda’s digital economy.

“There are areas of the economy that have shown resilience in the current crisis and by leveraging digital technologies are inventing new ways of operating and doing business,” said Richard Walker, World Bank Senior Economist for Uganda.

The body’s executive director Peter Wandera says respective government agencies and departments should give regular and updated accountability not only at national level but also at lowest level through different platforms.

He points out the office of the prime minister, ministry of local government, Uganda prison services, Uganda police force, parliament and kampala capital City Authority as key departments among others required to avail their expenditure on funds received to fight the pandemic.

Wandera notes that availing the information to the public will enable proper monitoring which is believed to contribute towards improved service delivery.