The E-Trade Association, an umbrella organization that converges companies and organizations that use the power of the internet to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in Uganda, has called for a removal of the motorcycle (Boda) ban after 7 pm to enable access to affordable transportation mobility for all Ugandans. The current difficult 7 pm curfew restriction has left many asking hundreds of questions, these include:

How will the majority of Ugandans who rely on boda bodas get home at 9pm after work? How will factory workers who work the late shift get home? Will supermarkets stay open late? Less than 1% of Ugandans own a car so this is not an option and Matatu (Taxi) coverage past 7pm is very limited and unsafe for users to walk from a taxi stage and reach the door of their home late hours after work.

The answer to these questions is clear; boda boda transportation provides a safer, efficient, affordable, convenient, last-mile and door-to-door, service country-wide. Banning Boda Bodas after 7pm will therefore make the journey back home on foot at night very dangerous for all Ugandans especially women, the elderly, and disabled.

As a representative of businesses large and small, the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry makes a statement on this concern:

“The Boda-Boda Industry is the second largest employer in Uganda after Agriculture and it provides a livelihood for close to seven million citizens in Uganda who would otherwise be engaged in illegal and illicit activities…It is also largely considered one of the cheapest and most effective modes of transport that facilitates business engagement. Research has indicated the Boda-Boda industry has revolutionalised the economy through bridging the gap of unemployment especially in the youth today.

Keeping the Industry under restricted movement (curfew) when the economy has finally opened up after two years is a disservice to the Business community that heavily relies on it as a primary facilitator for their business engagement in regards to the ease of movement of goods, services and personnel from one place to another.

The government should therefore reconsider its directives and instead train and emphasize the good practices on motorcycles operations in addition to the establishment of a well-updated database on commercial motorcycle activities for their sustainability and a regulated legal framework to the aspirations of the operators, customers and other road users” says Owomugisha Blessing Immaculate, Ag. Secretary-General – Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In Uganda, motorcycles enable millions of people to have the chance to participate in the economy everyday – getting to the market, delivering supplies, getting home after work, visiting a friend, getting to a meeting on time.

The sector is very important, directly employing over 1.2 million people. Boda bodas enable many small and medium scale businesses such as restaurants, bars, gyms and supermarkets to stay open late because employers are assured that there is an affordable last mile means of transportation that their employees can use to get home safely.

“Ever since the curfew was imposed, the best I could do was get daily food for my family, which many times has been quite difficult with the curfew restrictions. Now that schools and the economy have reopened, I still do not know how I am going to take care of my two sons and little daughter when the situation has not changed for me. I was hopeful when the President announced that the economy would be open this year.

I knew all would be well because I would go back to making some money from my customers. especially the party goers. Now I am left wondering where will I get money to support my family? I wonder what boda bodas did to the government,”

says a boda-boda rider in Kawempe division.

Whereas matatus or taxis remain a key transport service in Uganda, they are unable to go to the last mile, and cannot get people directly home. A 7pm curfew for boda bodas therefore means that businesses that could have stayed open longer will close earlier for the safety of their employees. This fact alone defeats the purpose of reopening the economy if people can not stay a little longer to make the money they have missed to make for the last two years.

E-Trade Association together with its partners calls upon the business community, regulators and general public to participate in the petition to end boda curfew through signing the petition.

We seek to engage Government decision-makers to consider allowing economic growth and prosperity by lifting the ban on transportation. As an association with a deep understanding of business and employment, we believe this can only be achieved if the Government removes the 7 pm Boda curfew to enable access to affordable transportation mobility for all Ugandans.

The E-pass app is intended to help the Ministry of Health track and geo-fence movements of COVID 19 patients under home-based care in a bid to reduce the number of non-critical patients that get admitted to Hospitals. By standard, the app helps the ministry know where a quarantined patient is moving to, their status, and avail needed health support due to limited resources in hospitals.

At the height of the pandemic, many people would be rushed to health centers including those that were not in critical conditions. With such situations, health centers were overwhelmed with high-walk in patients and also stretched the already limited resources in hospitals.

So, the Ministry of Health decided to introduce a home-based care policy in which non-critical patients would be cared for and monitored from the comfort of their homes or other safe locations outside hospitals. Now, with the E-Pass app developed by MTN Uganda in partnership with NITA-U, patients will be tracked down easily and reached out to when need be.

Speaking at the launch of the app, MTN Uganda General Manager for MTN Business Ibrahim Ssenyonga said the new app will go a long way in helping the government better manage resources as non-critical patients will be monitored remotely from their locations of isolation.

“This new app will alert the ministry of health designated officials, if in case a patient under surveillance goes outside of the planned location boundaries. That way, the ministry can minimize further spread, but also be able to locate some of the contacts in the areas where the patient might have veered off to,”

Mr. Ssenyonga said.

Development of the E-Pass App cost about UGX 460 million and the contributed tracking package includes 400 smartphone handsets that come pre-installed with the app and will be used for monitoring by the Ministry of Health officials. Aside that, the App can be accessed via MTN Uganda’s designated shortcode *260# that will best allow support for COVID19 Paeitnts and health care officials alike.

The NITA-Uganda Executive Director Dr Hatwib Mugasa inked that they are pleased with the solution as it serves as a game-changer in the overall management of the COVID19 pandemic.

“We are very proud because of the local capacity we have to quickly develop an app of this kind that will change the way we manage the COVID 19 pandemic in the country. This coming at a time when the vaccine is already in the country is a big boost in government efforts to curb and minimize the spread of the pandemic,”

Said Dr. Hatwib – The Executive Director NITA-U

In addition, the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Diana Atwine thanked MTN Uganda and NITA Uganda for the new intervention saying that it takes collective effort from everyone to be able to defeat the COVID19 pandemic effects.

“It is true that management of patients was quite a nightmare for government and the health centers. We were having many people coming to hospitals that didn’t need to be there. And these were taking space for those that needed to be there the most. So this solution is very welcome and it is a win for us as a country in the management of this pandemic,”

Said Diana Atwine

Statistically, MTN Uganda has stayed in the support light for the Ministry of Health’s activities to help COVID19 Patients and lives affected due to the pandemic effects by donating money, cars, and subscribing their data bundle prices to favour all audiences. By this fashion, other telcos like Airtel, Africell also followed suit by donating to the COVID19 task force, and now, a new App has risen from MTN Uganda’s engineering wing to track down patients which is a WIN-WIN for customers and the Yello telco.

The Huawei O&M Autin grid-based operations solution won the prize, which recognises organizations and initiatives that have successfully deployed technology solutions in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Huawei was chosen as the winner from a shortlist of five initiatives on the continent. 

The AfricaCom Virtual Awards acknowledge the contributions of Africa’s tech community in fields including corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, connectivity, pandemic response, and building a more accessible, inclusive digital world.

Huawei developed the Autin grid-based operations solution for network operations and maintenance (O&M), using new technologies such as blockchain, grid-based transformation, and the intelligent station of operations to enable decentralized network management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 170 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria – the most populous country in Africa – are served by four main operators from around 30 000 sites nationwide. Maintaining these large infrastructures requires hundreds of field technicians and 24/7 monitoring.

Lockdown and mobility restrictions during the pandemic placed additional challenges on operators, with increased traffic and restrictions on the number of workers permitted at network operations centers (NOCs).

To address these challenges, Huawei developed the Autin grid-based Operation, which decentralises network management by empowering field technicians with digitized tools to proactively monitor network quality indicators and respond to any degradation before subscribers are affected.

The solution not only provides a contingency for operators’ NOCs – essentially working as a “portable NOC” – but expands network monitoring capability with a grid-based operation.

A cloud-based, big-data digital platform is at the heart of the solution, leveraging machine-learning/AI, prediction algorithms, and knowledge-based intelligent rules.

A monetary incentive mechanism linked to network quality indicators motivates the field workers to embrace this mindset change. Finally, an intelligent command center – a “magnifier in the sky” – provides real-time visibility of network status, staff geolocation, and incident-resolution tracking.

“Grid-based network operation improves prediction capability and increases the agility of operators in responding to network incidents,” said Leo Lu, Huawei’s VP Global Technical Services for Southern Africa. “Field workers shift from being passive-reactive to being proactive thanks to cloud-based technology that gives them visibility and access to a knowledge database to resolve network faults.

“Intelligent dispatching and a network quality-based incentive plan are additional mobile features that improve field workers’ wellbeing and reduce their exposure to the pandemic,”

Concluded Leo Lu

In 2020 alone, Huawei has been at the forefront of helping countries in which it operates to handle the COVID19 Pandemic period swiftly than normal. In Uganda, the company donated IT equipment before resuming its annual ICT Academy competitions by leveraging elearning opportunities.

Hence, the COVID19 response award to Huawei may further inspire the company to deliver more community-driven projects on the African continent.

With an annual timeframe, recognition awards to foreign companies will attract more big tech companies to embrace Africa as a land of opportunity in a fashion similar to that of Huawei.

Following the Covid19 pandemic, H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the President of Uganda issued a stay at Home policy limiting public and private car movements in the country to increase the awareness levels of social distancing.

However, essential service providers like media, hospitals, security officials, cargo carriers were given a green light on using the road transport network by gluing authorization stickers on each and every essential car.

Given the rising streak of emerging technologies, wise heads started faking the stickers to grant non-essential cars permission to go past security tolls. But with the new sticker verification system, all stickers issued by the Ministry of Works & Transport will be validated online for every car.

The verification portal will be used on security tolls that will be able to validate the expiry, and validity of each car sticker by visiting the covid.works.go.ug that features a sticker number, and vehicle number plate.

For now, this is a measure that will see many cars off the road. But yet another health measure to combat the widespread of Corona Virus alias COVID 19.

Current number of Corona Virus cases in Uganda: https://www.bing.com/covid/local/uganda

In Africa, major Internet service providers have made all Corona Virus updates website free to access and all you need is a SIMCard to browse relevant Information published on these portals.

Among these websites include regional health ministry wings and the global world health organization portal that features symptoms and prevention measures against the virus.

Below is a list of websites you should bookmark and periodically visit for free without worrying about your Internet bundle:

• who.int
• covid19.com
• health.go.ug
• covid19.gou.go.ug
• covid19.net

We shall be updating this list periodically once new links are published by Internet service providers in the East African region