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HOIMA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The police in the Albertine region have launched investigations after Asinansi Nyakato, the Hoima City Woman Member of Parliament was blocked from accessing the construction site for the Hoima Blood Bank situated in Kasingo cell.
Nyakato who had gone to monitor the construction of the blood bank on Saturday was reportedly blocked from accessing the site by a female police officer deployed at the site.
The police officer who is yet to be identified, reportedly explained that she received orders from above not to allow the MP to visit the facility.
Nyakato accuses the female police officer of blocking her yet it is her role to monitor the implementation and progress of government projects in her constituency.
According to Nyakato, she was doing her oversight role as an MP and wondered why she was blocked from accessing the construction site of the blood bank.
Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson says, they have launched investigations into the matter to ascertain the circumstances under which the MP was blocked.
According to Hakiza, top police management in the region is not aware of any deployment at the construction site of the Hoima blood bank by police wondering who could have deployed the female police officer at the construction site.
The construction of the 4.5 billion Shillings Blood bank structure situated in Kasingo cell in Hoima city commenced in December 2022.
The government through the health ministry awarded the contract for the construction of the facility to Geses Construction Company Limited and the contractor is supposed to hand it over in January 2025.
The blood bank which has a storage capacity of 50,000 units, is expected to address the persistent blood shortages in the Bunyoro sub-region.
The facility is equipped with blood refrigerators, collection packs, and a backup generator to ensure continuous operation, even during power outages.
The facility will allow Hoima Regional Referral Hospital to reduce its reliance on the Nakasero Blood Bank for blood screening and supply.
For years, the Bunyoro sub-region has struggled with blood shortages, which have led to preventable deaths.
Dr. Sophia Namasope, the Director of Hoima Regional Referral Hospital explains that the construction of the facility has come at the right time when they are facing a blood shortage challenge.
Michael Nuwamanya the site Engineer says the project will be handed over within the stipulated timeframe.
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