MPs demand answers on stalled Lubowa specialized hospital

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Members of Parliament have tasked the government to explain the circumstances surrounding the construction of the specialized hospital in Lubowa.

This was during the Tuesday sitting in which Parliament paid tribute to the former Speaker Jacob Oulanyah who died in a hospital in Seattle, the United States of America. Oulanyah who doubled as Omoro County MP succumbed to cancer and multiple organ failures.

In 2019, Parliament guaranteed a 1.4 Trillion Shillings loan to Finasi/ROKO led by Italian investor Enrica Pinetti for the construction of the 264-bed specialized hospital.

However, soon after the loan approval, reports emerged that the joint venture between Finasi and Roko had collapsed amidst reports that up to 240 billion Shillings had gone missing before construction started.

While the Ministry of Health handed over the site on June 10, 2019, it was hoped that the construction would be completed by June 2021. However, the project remains at the foundation level and the Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, in April 2021 said that it had been extended for 15 months.

Aceng told Parliament’s Health Committee that on February 10, 2020, the project owner Engineer George Otim revised the works program and approved an extension of three months because of bad weather conditions in the Lubowa area caused by high rainfall.

Another extension of 12 months was sought in addition to the three months due to the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown.

By April last year, 406 billion shillings in promissory notes had been issued. The value of work completed then stood at 204 billion shillings representing 22.7 percent of the total construction while the planned value which is the amount of work that should have been done if conditions were normal is at 305 Billion Shillings.

The Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga demanded that parliament gets answers regarding the construction of the hospital.

“This parliament mortgaged the nation to over a trillion Shillings to build a specialized hospital…that facility is a no go area to Members of Parliament and as leaders, we need to be very careful in our actions, and when we return it is going to be very different,” said Mpuuga.

He added that government must explain whether the country was fleeced and those responsible are held accountable.

“The Rt. Hon. Speaker sadly passed on away from home, his close friends…save for a few who were able to travel… missed an opportunity to have the last word with him and for me, that is very saddening. Not that we wanted Jacob Oulanyah to die from his house…the point I am making is that we need to do better,” Mpuuga explained.

He said that there needs to be a level of commitment during the budgeting process given the challenges in the health sector.

Mpuuga also paid tribute to the late Speaker Jacob Oulanyah.

“He was a fine gentleman…he was a good man. As the Opposition in Parliament, we had fallen in love with a leader but necessarily not with a politician. He was able to draw a boundary between being a leader and being a politician which is why he had a good balance leading us here in parliament. It is a unique trait,” he said.

He said that as a matter of reflection, parliament should in all its respective capacities commit to delivering quality output to Ugandans in memory of the late Oulanyah. Mpuuga said that the habit of Ministers absenting themselves from Parliament and parliament losing a lot of time and money should stop.

Alioni Yorke Odria, the Aringa South MP observed that the death of Oulanyah in a foreign hospital should compel the government to end medical tourism and improve the existing health facilities.

Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality MP accused the government of paying deaf ears to the limping health facilities in the country which has encouraged several dignitaries to be flown overseas.

Ssemujju noted that the demonstrations by concerned Ugandans in the diaspora were not targeting Oulanyah as an individual but the breakdown of the existing healthcare system in the country.

Betty Nambooze, the Mukono Municipality MP also asked the government to act and save the citizens from dying in foreign hospitals in search of better care delivery.

Oulanyah was admitted to Mulago Hospital Cancer Institute on 23rd January where his condition was managed by a team of 15 Doctors led by Dr. Jackson Orem, the Executive Director of the Institute before his condition deteriorated.

Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health told parliament that Oulanyah started ailing in 2019 when he discovered a big swelling in the neck which was operated on in Germany and later diagnosed with cancer.

She added that Oulanyah’s liver started failing while still in Uganda, while his lungs had a build-up of excess fluid between the layers of the pleura. Meanwhile, the heart started failing while in Seattle as well as the kidney leading to multiple bacterial infections.

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