Starting this Week, All the MPs to be Screened Amid Fears of Coronavirus in Parliament of Uganda.

       Speaker Kadaga.

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has revealed that all Members of Parliament (MPs) and Parliament staff will undergo mass screening for Covid-19.

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While communicating to the House at the commencement of Wednesday’s plenary session, the Speaker noted that the move follows a request by several members to undergo mass screening.

“Sometime back, some members had requested that the Ministry of Health organizes mass screening for COVID-19 among the members. I am glad to inform you that they have now completed screening Cabinet and starting from tomorrow, we shall be able to do the screening here from morning,” Kadaga said.

She added that, “We shall first screen the MPs and then later deal with the staff and others. So, starting tomorrow at our health centre, you can go and get tested but we shall have to cluster you because we don’t want all of us to be there at the same time”.

The Speaker’s comments come at a time when there are claims that a female Member of Parliament who attended Plenary on Tuesday tested positive to COVID-19.

“I have just been tipped to get out of Parliament that Ugandan Female MP tested positive for Corona Virus… the information should be made public why are they hiding it. She was in Parliament yesterday,” wrote Aruu County MP, Samuel Odonga Otto in a Parliamentary WhatsApp group.

The female MP who has since been admitted in the hospital in Kampala is said to have interacted with many of her colleagues which has created a lot of anxiety among the members and staff.

The call by the Speaker for mass testing was welcomed by the Members of Parliament who also requested that their close relatives are also co-opted into the exercise.

Busongora North MP, William Nzoghu asked that close family members of MPs and staff also be tested since MPs and Parliament staff move back to their homes on a daily basis.

“Members here and staff come from families which have more than one member. During the day, they are here and they later go back and interact with their family members. I am asking whether there is a way to extend this (testing) to immediate family members,” Nzoghu requested.

In her response, the Speaker noted that she will first deal with the MPs and the staff, and will engage with the Ministry of Health to see how the request can be made possible.

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