QUARANTINE announced by the government in an effort to fight against COVID-19 has led to the raising cases of domestic violence in Wakiso.
This was revealed by Grace Basalwa, the woman in charge of women affairs on Muyomba village in Wakiso Sub County, Wakiso district recently.
“It’s true the rate of domestic violence is now very high because men are not working and when women demand for money for home use, men just open quarrels due to lack of money,” said Basalwa.
In an exclusive interview with the new vision recently, Basalwa pointed out that when the two married people just stays at home without money, there is no peace in most cases.
She further said that a round 4 to 5 cases of domestic violence are registered at Muyomba which was not the case before the quarantine.
Basalwa however, pointed out that many cases of domestic violence are not reported due to the limited movements set by the government.
She finally advised married people to be accommodative and be patient so that the country goes through this difficult moment until the situation normalizes.
Faith Nalukyamuzi a resident of Muyomba said domestic violence is very rampant in urban centers.
According to Nalukyamuzi, there is no free food in towns yet everything requires money which is not there currently because men are not working.
She added that in villages, the situation is a bit relative because people can get some food from gardens.
Making the matter worse, most men in Wakiso have been having more than one wife and many women have been dumped as men claim to have been trapped by the quarantine from somewhere, according to Nalukyamuzi.
Hamiddu Kizza the one in charge of information in Nsumbi LC1 zone in Kyebando parish ,Wakiso district admitted that there is an increasing cases of domestic violence during this quarantine period.
“There is a lot of domestic violence in our area because we do register around 5 to 10 cases of domestic violence every day,” said Kizza.
Kizza revealed that there was a case where a woman together with her step daughter badly beat up the man for allegedly delaying to open for the his wife who was said to have been drunk.
The man whose name was reserved ran to Nsumbi LC1 offices and reported the case and the chair man of the area Robert Muwawu intervened and went to the man’s home in Nsumbi to talk to the wife.
Other related cases according to Kizza include failure to provide domestic needs by men adding that this sparks off quarrels in people’s homes.
The deputy mayor of Wakiso town council Abdul Kapo also testified that there is an increase in domestic violence during this period of quarantine due to COVID-19 outbreak.
Kapo is a resident of Kisimbiri-Kyoga zone in Wakiso town council and said that he is now keeping a woman at his home who stormed his home at night recently claiming to have got a misunderstanding with the husband.
He added that he settles not less than three cases every week which was not the case before the outbreak of COVID-19 which was followed by quarantine.
Kapo advised married people to stop staying idle at home but get something to do to occupy them other than being redundant.
He mentioned break laying for men and making hand crafts like mats for the case of women as some of the activities that can be done and minimize quarrels at home.
Regina Bakitte, the mayor of Nansana municipality in Wakiso district pointed out that some men have decided to desert their homes due to lack of money to cater for their families.
According to Bakitte, this has forced many women to committee adultery as a way of getting survival in the absence of their husbands.
Bakitte called upon Non-Government Organizations [NGOs] to start using social media plat forms to help families saying it’s a critical time that need counseling families all the time.
She further appealed to married people to be lenient to each other and use the police and local leaders in their areas in case the situation goes out of their hands other than fighting.