Security agencies have been instructed by President Yoweri Museveni not to allow landlords to evict tenants defaulting on rent payment during the period of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown in Uganda.
In his 9TH presidential address to update the nation on the Covid-19 pandemic, President Museveni said that landlords and their tenants should come to an agreement on how to pay outstanding rent arrears in the near future.
He said, “Landlords should not evict people because they have not paid rent. Police should not allow this because they will be exacerbating the spread.”
President Museveni advised landlords to table their demands for rent when the situation in the country normalizes. Presently, Uganda is under a 14-day lockdown ordered by President Museveni on March 31. He ordered the lockdown as a measure to slow or stop the spread of Coronavirus in the country. Uganda has registered 53 positive cases of Covid-19 as of April 8, 2020.
President Museveni’s comments come after many Ugandans had expressed concerns about how they would meet their rent bills while not working. Ugandans had taken to social media and radio and TV call-in shows to ask the president to address this concern after he did not in his first eight addresses to the nation on Covid-19 effects on the country.
In the lockdown, Museveni prohibited unnecessary movements apart from providers of essential services. Essential services include security, medical, food service providers. All others, including many government departments have to observe the 14 day lockdown that means stay at home.
In the same speech, President Museveni banned the growing activity of jogging in the empty streets during the lockdown. Many Ugandans especially in urban areas had taken up jogging to pass the time and work on their physical fitness as they waited out the lockdown. He asked those who wish to exercise to do so in their precincts of their homes.
