You probably own a vehicle or planning to rent a car in Uganda for your self-drive safari or any tour in Uganda but the essential question that every solo traveler should know is what items or things should not miss out in your self-drive rental car? Preparation before hitting the road for your holiday is very important whether you are a first time traveler or repeat traveler on Uganda safaris. Usually, most of us leave our tools back at home yet it is essential to have them in the car to address a number of cases like car breakdown while you are far away from home. We bring you a list of items you shouldn’t miss to pack in your self-drive rental car as we plan a post COVID-19 solo trip in Uganda.

Required tools in case of car breakdown & maintenance

If you have been on self-drive tour or any journey and the car broke down then you understand the stress that comes along when you left your tools back at home. Such occurrences can surely ruin your self-drive safari experience or even a normal journey. However, with the following at hand, you have a million reasons to get back to the road to make your self-drive trip a success;

• Spare tyre, car jack and wheel spanner-are essential to have in your car the fact that no one may assist you with his or her spare tyre to fix on.
• Jumper cables-this play a significant role especially for cases of dead batteries or any issues related to batteries.

Safety and survival

Safety is every traveler priority while on a road, journey as a family, friends and relatives or self-drive tour in Uganda. You should be well-equipped with;

• First aid kit-this should contain different basic items like medication, bandages, liniments and a lot more.
• Sun glasses-these play essential role especially in safeguarding your eyes from sun rays.
• Fire extinguisher-have a small sized fire extinguisher to help you stop small fire.
• Seat belts-not just seat belts but they should be functional. They play vital role in saving lives in case of accidents and ensure before setting off, everyone is on a seat belt.
• Gloves-these limit your fragile skin from exposure.
• Reflective triangles-these are essential especially in case of car breakdown. They reduce chances of you getting hit by another person on road side.
• Global Positioning System-the GPS is vital for you to find direction in case you got lost.

Health matters

• There are a number of basic items to carry to ensure you don’t get infected by germs for instance-you need hand sanitizers, hand towels and tissue/roll of toilet paper.

Other basic items

• You may also require umbrella-not every time you will be in the car and for this case, you may need to connect to other places or even to the car then it starts raining. You also need USB mobile charger for your gargets; reusable shopping bag and many others.

Hundreds of passengers and several drivers are stranded in Gulu district due to the Covid-19 lockdown. This is due to that the President Directives to lockdown Gulu did not understand public

Gulu district coronavirus taskforce headed by Major Santos Okot Lapolo, the Gulu Resident District Commissioner on Wednesday morning blocked buses and taxis from exiting the district citing that the district was under lockdown.

On Wednesday morning several passengers thronged Lamogi Ber Bus Terminal and Gulu Main Bus Park to book for passengers service vehicles destined to different districts in the country.

However, Gate Way Bus registration number UAY 397 D which left Gulu for Mbale district via Soroti at 7:00 a.m shift was stopped by traffic officers at Layibi Round About bordering Gulu and Omoro districts.

Abdul Kawuta, the bus driver said that he was forced to return to the main bus park and offload the 28 passengers who were already on board.

The conductor was also forced to refund each passenger the 50,000 shillings fare that they had paid for the travel.

Kawuta explained that they were not informed early enough that Gulu district was under lockdown, he has appealed to the Gulu district Covid-19 taskforce to allow him and three other staff to return to Mbale even on an empty bus.

David Mugerwa, a passenger destined to Kyankwanzi district through Kampala was also left stranded at the park after he was informed that busses were not travelling because of the lockdown.

Jennifer Ajok, was equally left stranded with her five months old baby after setting off from Palaro Sub County over 10 kilometers away from Gulu Main Bus Park to travel to Karuma in Masindi district only to discover that transport has been suspended indefinitely.

Norbert Oyat, the Kitgum Stage Deputy Master said that 25 taxis that were destined to Kitgum and Pader districts were also blocked by the security from travelling.

He disclosed that eleven other vehicles returning to Gulu district today morning were also intercepted and stopped at Lacek Ocot in Pader district.

At Lamogi Ber Bus Terminal seven buses were equally blocked from travelling. They include Gaaga, Larem, Home Land, Opit, Zawadi and Makome Bus Companies among others.

Joseph Odoch, the Manager Larem Bus Company expressed dissatisfaction arguing that they were not informed about the lockdown on time hence leaving hundreds of strangers and several bus operators stranded today

However, Gulu Resident District Commissioner Major Santos Okot Lapolo argues that Gulu is among the eight districts that have been locked down by President Yoweri Museveni on Monday for being high risks districts to Covid-19.

But Gilbert Olanya, the Acholi Parliamentary Group General Secretary has protested the closure noting that Gulu has only registered two community cases of Covid-19 which does not call for the lockdown.

By the time of filing this story, heavily armed security personnel of the Uganda People`s Defense Force and Police were patrolling the bus parks.a1

Faded Singer, Ibrahim Mayanja aka Big Eye has threatened to sue President Yoweri Kaguta for an alleged debt that arose from the 2011 Presidential Campaign.

The local singer claims that he has a pending payment of UGX 270 million debt that resulted from his performances at the Presidential Campaigns of 2011.

In his intention to sue letter dated 22/June/2020, that was signed by his lawyers of KM Advocates and Associates, Big Eye gave the National Resistance Movement only 14 days to either clear the debt or face the law.

The served notice shows that the singer is claiming he demands UGX 270 millions.

When reached out for a comment, Big Eye added on that when he came out last week and painfully exposed his debts that are eating him down, some people thought that he is looking for free money.

“Through my lawyers, I’m here to demand the money I worked for in the 2011 presidential campaigns for Mr. Yoweri Museveni (Chairperson of the National Resistance Movement ),” Big Eye stated.