Doctors Call For Forensic Audit Of Uganda’s Health Sector After Arrest Of Mulago Hospital ED Dr. Byaruhange Baterana

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Doctors Call For Forensic Audit Of Uganda's Health Sector After Arrest Of Mulago Hospital ED Dr. Byaruhange Baterana

By Uganda Online Media

Kampala: Medical workers under their umbrella Uganda Medical Association (UMA) have called upon the Health Monitoring Unit to conduct a thorough investigation into all government health facilities if the country is to improve on service delivery.

According to UMA, Mulago Hospital is not the only government health facility having corrupt officials or mismanagement of government funds but also other health facilities accross the country.

UMA’s remarks come after the arrest of Mulago National Referral Hospital executive director, Dr. Byarugaba Baterana on allegations of corruption over the loss of over UGX 28.8 billion which disappeared without a trace from Mulago Hospital.

Baterana was arrested on Tuesday this week, as the Health Monitoring Unit is investigating him over alleged mismanagement of the national referral hospital and he has since been interdicted from his office to pave way for the ongoing investigations.

While Addressing the media in Kampala, UMA president, Oledo Samuel Odongo said the arrest of Baterana was nothing compared to the rot in the health sector and should be extensively investigated.

Odongo further tasked the Health Monitoring Unit to expedite investigations in the $ 50 million allocated for the harmonization and standardization of health services at Mulago Hospital five years back but up to today the situation remains unchanged.

“This money was released to Mulago hospital over five years for uplifting Mulago to a state of art for specialized care. Up to now the construction team which is responsible for the uplifting of Mulago has not finished these responsibilities and roles. Patients are busy carrying water from the first floor to the fifth. Why is Mulago incomplete up to now?” he queried.

According to Odongo, Mulago receives over Shs 62 billion annually to run its operations but unfortunately, the services and structures at the national referral are very wanting and in a dire state contrary to the funding the hospital gets.

“I call upon our colleagues; let’s maintain the highest level of professionalism. What has happened in Mulago is the total red flag in other units too. The investigations must be cross-cutting from top to bottom where the money is released from to where the final user is so that we have a comprehensive report over this matter, ”he said.

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