Your mail: IDs should not expire

Every time I think about the ordeal I and millions of other Ugandans went and continue to go through to obtain national identity cards, I worry about the approaching expiry dates.

Our East African neighbours like Rwanda, Kenya etc issued their national IDs that don’t require renewing, for the obvious reasons of not only saving state resources, but as many have argued in the past, one’s nationality requires no expiry date unless of course one has ceased being a citizen by change of nationality and other related factors.

Until now, the government of Uganda has not seen any sound reason to change the status quo and NIRA is still issuing time-bound IDs. As several Ugandans ponder the expiry of their IDs, they are meant to think of going through the same painstaking process.

Government and parliament should borrow a leaf not only from such neighbouring countries, but also the World Health Organisation that similarly declared all yellow fever cards valid for a lifetime - even if one took the shots several years ago.

Simply enact a law without costing us more valuable time and resources.

John Kavuma,
jkavuma8@gmail.com

Increase mental health budget

It is absurd that media reports continue to indicate that many Ugandans commit suicide every year despite a passing by parliament of the Mental Health Act (2018).

Our minds are still fresh of the Mabirizi Tower suicide attempt where a one Mustafa Lule aged 17 in 2016 jumped from the topmost level and survived miraculously. 

Due to stigma associated with mental health illness, generalized in Uganda as madness, the causes are usually associated with witchcraft, thus missing out an opportunity to provide appropriate care.

Persons suffering from mental illness are most often neglected by families and harassed by society, which puts them at a high risk of committing suicide.

Suicide is especially common among refugees and young people in Uganda aged 15 to 29 who are more prone to psychological distress. This trend will not be reversed if the root causes of suicide, such as anxiety disorders, depression, stress and substance abuse (alcoholism and drugs) are not tackled.

In Uganda, as high as 90 per cent of the population in need of mental health treatment never access such services while only 0.7 per cent of the total health budget is allocated to mental health. This is negligible to confront the problems at hand.

Preventing suicide is possible, but it requires concerted effort and intensifying awareness on mental illness and tackling its root causes by all parties involved.

The parliament of Uganda is commended for putting in place a favourable policy framework but should walk the talk by increasing budget allocation in the upcoming 2020 national budget. This will enable the ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and other relevant institutions to train and deploy more mental health workers and buying the required medicines and supplies.

Denis Nuwagaba,
denis@passionpawa.com

Keep Kampala green

In 2019, Uganda experienced a serious hot wave for the first time in many years. It goes without saying that some of the contributors to this is failure to manage our environment well.

Will the trees that have been put down to pave way for road works in Kampala city be replaced in any way? Are we going to continue to have hot tarmac roadways as opposed to the earlier cool roadways? What is the plan for the city to continue to remain cool even when the development happens?

This is where sustainable development is key! What are the other alternatives for green in the city? Are we going to have more flooding eating away the new tarmac we are all so eager about? What is the plan to ensure that even as we develop, we do not affect the environment adversely?

I hope we take measures now to keep our city green and cool even in the midst of development.

Michael Aboneka,
abonekajunior@gmail.com

Digitize agriculture

I would like to commend the ministry of Agriculture and all the other related partners for promoting farming. I attended the recent harvest money expo that took place at Namboole stadium and I was impressed by the presentations made, which showed the huge potential of agriculture in Uganda.

I spoke to a few exhibitors who told me that if we want to further develop our agricultural system, there is a need to digitize the sector. They argued that that is why countries such as the Netherlands have a developed agricultural sector because of the digital systems in place.

Some of the importance of digitalizing agriculture is that farmers reduce the risks of making losses. For example, the farmers can examine the soil type before planting.

Digitalizing might seem a bit expensive, but in the long run it saves farmers a lot of money. It is important that media, such as the radios, amplify the message about the need for digitization to farmers.

Kevin Seguya,
kelvinsegz@gmail.com

Is Uganda ready to tackle the coronavirus?

There is a need to review the checking of suspected coronavirus patients at the airport.

There is a problem of quarantining suspected cases with those that bring them to the treatment centres. This is likely to lead to infection of even those that may not have the virus. In addition, there is fear among some doctors at these centres especially when presented with a suspected case of coronavirus. This shows their lack of preparation and training.

If patients cannot see hope in their doctors, then their healing is affected greatly for they can withhold information such as who they contracted the virus from and where they have been. If patients are not handled humanely, they will not trust doctors with such information. This explains why Ebola persisted in Sierra Leone, Liberia and the DRC.

There also needs to be thorough checks of the country of origin, besides asking travelers if they have had signs similar to coronavirus. This is based on the fact that whereas some countries have invested a lot in Uganda, quarantining their nationals for checks and tests on coronavirus is not disrespectful.

Some have been heard wondering why Uganda has few restrictions to their entry at such a time compared to other countries.

In addition, a team of experienced, trained and highly motivated medical personnel ought to be deployed at the gazetted centres so that they can tackle the coronavirus  in its early stages. If this is done, then we are on a good footing in the fight against coronavirus  in Uganda.

Andrew Kasumba,
kasumba.andrew@gmail.com

letters@observer.ug