Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, said he had Covid-19 after one of three tests on him came up positive.
According to a BBC report, Mr Museveni said he had a minor cold that prompted him to get tested.
He had earlier on Wednesday delivered a State of the Nation address. Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary at the health ministry, said the president had experienced minor flu-like symptoms but was otherwise healthy and would carry on with his responsibilities.
She stated that while doing his duties, the president will follow the regular operating procedures for Covid situations.
At the height of the pandemic, Uganda implemented some of the harshest policies in Africa to stop the virus’s spread, including lengthy curfews and the shutdown of businesses and schools. In February 2022, the nation reopened in its entirety.
The president and his country were in the spotlight recently when the country said that donor threats of penalties amounted to ‘blackmail’ in response to the West’s reaction to the East African nation’s new anti-LGBTQ law, which is regarded as one of the harshest in the world.
According to the law that President Yoweri Museveni signed, “aggravated homosexuality”—a crime that includes sharing gay sex with someone who has HIV—is punishable by death.
Its implementation, which was announced on Monday, attracted swift criticism from Western governments and jeopardizes a portion of the country’s yearly foreign aid of billions of dollars.
While Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the government would consider imposing visa restrictions on Ugandan officials, U.S. President Joe Biden threatened aid reductions and other consequences.
The law, according to Josep Borrell, the head of foreign strategy for the EU, will affect Uganda’s relations with other countries. Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi dismissed the criticism in the first in-depth remarks from the Ugandan government following Museveni’s signing of the law.
“We do not consider homosexuality as a constitutional right. It is just a sexual deviation which we do not promote as Ugandans and Africans,” he told Reuters.
“While we appreciate the support we get from partners, they must be reminded that we are a sovereign country and we do not legislate for the Western world. We legislate for our own people here in Uganda. So that kind of blackmail is not acceptable.”
