Bars and Concerts to Reopen Soon.

The President of Uganda H.E Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni revealed that the entertainment industry including bars and concerts will reopen effective 24th January 2022.

While addressing the nation on Friday 31st December 2021 , the president noted that performing arts as well as concerts and bars will open two weeks after the reopening of schools and schools are scheduled to reopen on 10th January 2022.

He explained that the Ministry of Health will  draw safety protocols to guide the reopening of this sector .

As government’s measure to prevent the spread of Corona virus, Uganda’s performing arts sector and night life business have been closed for twenty one months now. 

The president said that when the entertainment sector reopens,the 7:00pm daily curfew will at the same time be lifted but boda bodas will not be allowed to move beyond 7:00pm ,however he cautioned that some of these new measures  may be reversed if hospitals get overwhelmed by Covid cases citing the Omicron variant which is said to have a high transmission rate.

The long closure of the entertainment sector has largely been due to the President’s stand that reopening bars makes observance of safety protocols impossible saying that drunkards are a danger to even themselves.

The hesitancy by the government to fully reopen this sector has led to the shutdown of several businesses and mostly bars ,those that are still operational are finding hard time to survive, facing a number of challenges such as rent debts, unpaid utility bills, and bank loans among others.