Despite the alarming rates of Mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its contagious nature, the Bunagana border in Kisoro District continues to grapple with the influx of Congolese crossing into and out of Uganda.
Our reporter visited the border on Tuesday, September 3, 2024. As it was market day on both the Ugandan and DRC sides, the number of people crossing the border surged beyond routine levels.
At the border, the reporter spoke with Innocent Nkurunziza, the head of the health facility at the border, who described the situation amidst inadequate resources, including detergents and manpower.
Nkurunziza revealed that the government staff assigned to screen at the border is insufficient, and that partners such as AMREF Uganda have withdrawn some of their frontline personnel. Similarly, he noted that the Red Cross staff at the border is also inadequate due to underfunding from their partners, which has strained the available manpower.
During the visit, the reporter observed that authorities on the DRC side were implementing handwashing facilities as a measure to mitigate Mpox.
Upon inquiry, The Ankole Times learned that after a suspected Mpox case at the border on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, militias in DRC sought health guidance from Ugandan medical personnel at the border. Following this guidance, the Ugandan team committed to providing detergents to the DRC side as a key step in achieving prevention goals.
Economically, businesses in Bunagana Town Council are operating normally. James Hashaka, chairperson of the business community, noted that, unlike other pandemics such as Covid-19 and Ebola, as well as military confrontations on the DRC side between the M23 and the Congolese army, business activities are proceeding as usual.
Hashaka mentioned that standard operating procedures are observed by only a few individuals, primarily elites and enforcement teams.
