Luweero Residents Petition CAO over Drug Shortage

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Over 50 residents in Luweero district have petitioned the chief administrative officer, Christopher Kyomya asking him to investigate alleged embezzlement of over 7.2 million meant for restocking drugs at Kyevunze health center two under public-private partnership. 

The residents in Kasaala parish in Luweero sub county claim that the government is allocating funds per year under private-public partnership with Kyevunze, a private owned health center to buy drugs for the patients but every day the center says there are no drugs. 

Residents accuse the health center director, Margaret Kirinda and the in charge only identified as Mrs. Nalongo Kasule of embezzling the funds and leaving patients in agony. 

Edward Nsubuga, the lead petitioner says that the residents have spent two years with no drugs yet the government sends 7,254,828 shillings per financial year to buy the drugs. Nsubuga questions how the 7 million shillings is usually spent without drugs being bought. 

Another resident, Jackson Ssemakula says that when he went for malaria treatment a couple months of a go, a nursing assistant wrote a chit and told him to go to Luweero town council to buy the tablets from local drug shops. He suspects that the health unit director pockets the money and doesn’t buy the drugs. 

The residents want the CAO to write to the health ministry to halt funding and conduct an investigation into the use of all the money that has been disbursed to the center. 

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), a non government organization in Luweero have also conducted an investigation into the management of the health center and found out that despite the acute drug shortage for the past two years in the center, the accounts were balanced to show that the drugs were bought and given to patients. 

Richard Ale, the field operations officer of FOWODE told URN reporter that they also found out that the in charge and the director are receiving the funds through a personal account with only one person as a signatory, which puts the money at risk of mismanagement. 

Ale says they have joined the residents to petition the CAO seeking for his intervention. 

CAO, Kyomya was unavailable for comment on the petition but the health center director Margaret Kirinda denied embezzling the said funds though she agreed with the petitioners that the money was being deposited on her personal account which is unlawful. She promised to address it through including community leaders as signatories. 

Kyevunze health center two is catering for over 2000 residents of Kasaala parish in Luweero sub county.

Story from: Uganda Radio Network

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