19 December 2024
By, Isaac Senabulya
Members of Parliament on the Parliamentary Committee on the National Economy have discovered that Ugandans will wait until 2026 to make use of Lubowa Specialized Hospital.
MPs on the Committee led by the committee Deputy Chairperson Robert Migadde Ndugwa were allowed access to the construction site of Lubowa Hospital for the first time to assess its construction progress.
The MPS, who were accompanied by the Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng and the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine were taken through the hospital site by the Italian investor Pinetti.
The construction of this hospital started in 2019, and it was supposed to be completed in 2021. The Manager of Operations at Finci company which is in charge of the construction told MPs that the construction progress at this hospital has reached 46% and the first completion phase of this hospital will be in March 2025 and then its full completion will be seen in 2026.
However, MPs were denied some of the documents they wanted from Pinetti about the management of affairs at this hospital but the Minister of Health, Dr. Ruth Aceng cooled them down and promised to ensure that all they wanted would be shared with them.
Baale County MP Charles Tebandeke questioned, “ Is it procedurally right that as the presentation is ongoing by pinetti, the copies can be given to Members of Parliament for easy follow up,”
However, Pinetti refused the plea by MPs “ I am sorry I am not giving, we can give a nice presentation but I don’t give you copies, I saw you taking pictures though no media and no information should go out,”
The Committee Deputy Chairperson Robert Migadde wondered why the government has been denying MPs access to this site when funds being used worth 1.44 trillion shillings is taxpayers' money.
“This site has been a point of confrontation with Parliament Committee Members and Government officials and security officers, I am happy we are here, we have reached the site and there was no hassle, there is a lot of progress, we have interacted with those on training, work is going on well, if this goes as we planned, there is a hope to Ugandans,” said Migadde
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