Government through Ministry of Health has urged makers of face masks to send in their applications if they are to cash-in on the programme that will see Ugandans above six years get ‘free’ face masks from government
“All companies that are interested in manufacturing and supplying face masks are advised to send an email to: procurement@health.go.ug expressing interest. Submit your company name, manufacturing capacity and location of your firm. DEADLINE: Monday, 25 May 2020, 10:00am,” Health Ministry said in a notice on its twitter handle.
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President Yoweri Museveni Monday night revealed that government will first distribute ‘free’ face masks to Ugandans above the age of 6 before lifting the COVID-19 lockdown.
The President also revealed that masks will be manufactured by Nyanza Textitle Industries (NYTIL), a thing that was questioned by several Ugandans including Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
In Parliament, Bujumbura County MP, Fred Turyamuhweza asked government to explain how NYTIL was picked to manufacture facemasks and wondered why government did not set standards to allow other companies to produce them.
In response, Minister of State for Primary Health, Joyce Moriku said government has lined up up 28 companies to assist in manufacturing face masks that will be distributed to Ugandans.
Moriku also said government plans to follow the normal procedure used in procuring all public goods. She added that they had started discussions with 28 eligible companies to manufacture face masks.
However, some MPs noted that this is going to leave out a number of Ugandans who have already been making these masks while others demanded to know whether face masks from pharmacies could also be qualified as quality masks so that people can use them to start performing their duties.
