The Ugandan Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hon. Ecweru Musa Francis, recently ordered the flogging of three men who were found using treated mosquito nets for fishing. These men had diverted treated mosquito nets meant for children and pregnant women for fishing of small sized fish.
The incident happened in the eastern region of Kumi. The minister ordered that each of the culprits be punished with two lashes each on their bottoms for their act of misusing treated mosquito nets.
The visibly angry minister said: “These nets were distributed by the Uganda government, with its partners like the Uganda Red Cross, NGOs and other well wishers, to especially water logged areas of the east of Uganda to prevent mosquitoes from biting children and pregnant women. Anybody using these treated mosquito nets for fishing should be punished severely.”
According to a 2011 WHO report, 8431 deaths occurred in Uganda due to malaria in 2010. The report also said there were 657,391 inpatient recorded cases of malaria in 2010.