Addis Abeba, Ethiopia | AFP | Millions of lost jobs, mounting debt woes and plunging remittances are among the economic hardships African countries can expect because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Union said in a study published Monday. “Nearly 20 million jobs, both in the formal and informal sectors, are threatened with destruction on …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Rubaga Magistrates court has issued an order directing the Uganda Prisons Services to produce the founder of Revival Christian Church Pastor Augustine Yiga. Yiga was arrested and remanded last week for allegedly doing an act likely to spread coronavirus. Yiga was on Monday supposed …

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Lack of personal protective equipment is worrying security personnel enforcing public guidelines against COVID-19 in Gulu. Hundreds of armed police officers backed by Local Defense Units (LDU) personnel and Uganda People’s Defense Force – UPDF are enforcing the 14-days curfew to combat the pandemic …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Kinshasa on Monday closed off its upmarket business district for two weeks and began a large-scale disinfection operation in a bid to clean up DR Congo’s main suspected source of coronavirus. Access to Gombe, which houses the country’s main institutions and foreign embassies, was barricaded off to everyone except …

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A group of armed youths masquerading as Local Defence Unit personnel are taking advantage of curfew to brutalize residents of Gulu Municipality in Northern Uganda. The curfew was declared by President Yoweri Museveni a week ago as a measure to control the movement of people …

Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Celebrating Palm-Sunday under a lockdown was gloom to Masaka Diocesan Bishop Serverus Jjumba. Palm Sunday is celebrated as the first day into the Holy Week which also coincides with the last week of the Lent season that is climaxed with the Easter feast. After his …

Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spain declared Monday a fourth consecutive drop in the number of coronavirus-related deaths with 637 over the past 24 hours, the lowest number in nearly two weeks. Fatalities, which were sharply down on the record 950 on Thursday, brought the total deaths in the country to 13,055, second only to …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Truck drivers carrying cargo from the Democratic Republic of Congo entering through Bwera border post in Kasese district will be subjected to 14-days of quarantine. The development is a measure to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Kasese Resident District Commissioner, Lt. Joe Walusimbi …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Politicians and top civil servants in Rwanda will have their salaries this month redirected to welfare programmes to help the poor cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said the salary sacrifice would show “solidarity” with the people, who have been under a tough lockdown …

Mbale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Butchers and Abattoir operators in Mbale have been hit hard by the current lock down in the country to avoid the spread of the coronavirus (COVID -19). The butchers and abattoir operators say they are making loses during this period and yet they have families …