Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa has cleared a passenger plane from Ethiopia to land at Entebbe Airport despite the current nationwide lockdown.
Kuteesa gave the clearance in a May 13th letter to the manager of Ethiopian Airlines in Uganda. This website is in possession of a copy of the letter.
“This letter grants permission to board the following persons on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Entebbe airport on Monday 18th May 2020,” the letter reads in part.
Aboard the plane are three Ugandans whom the Minister identified as Barbra Kavuya, Blanche Kibaju and Isaiah Tiba Byabashaija.
Reasons for the exceptions made remain unclear.
Controversy
In his address on Saturday March 21st, Museveni decreed that all borders would be closed and no passenger planes would be allowed into the country.
This, the president said was one of many other interventions to help curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have decided to prohibit all passenger planes coming from outside Uganda from landing at any of the airports of Uganda. Only cargo planes will be allowed to fly in and out of Uganda,” the President said.
But this website understands that over time, chartered passenger planes have been allowed in the country despite the directive from the head of state.