By Flavia Ajok
Residents of Masindi district have been irked by what they have termed as President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s silence on the reconstruction of Masindi General Hospital.
Masindi Hospital, which was constructed in the 1920s by the colonial government at a bed capacity of 100 people to date, has never been uplifted.
On many occasions, Masindi leaders and locals have raised their concerns about the pathetic situation of the general hospital.
During President Museveni’s meeting with leaders from Bunyoro region over the weekend, the Minister State for Children and Youth Affairs, Balaam Barugahara, asked the president to consider reconstructing modern structures at the above hospital.
Barugahara stressed that the hospital is in a pathetic state and mothers are delivering on the floor. However, the president did not respond to the matter but rather pledged to fulfil other small pledges.
This did not go well with a section of locals. Fredrick Banage, a resident of Central Division, says he is surprised to see Masindi hospital with the structures that were constructed during the colonial era, adding people die on the way in search of good medication outside Masindi.
In protest, he suggests the people of Masindi to stop voting for the leaders in power unless they construct new structures at the hospital.
Topista Nyakaisiki, a caretaker at Masindi Hospital, stresses that now they need a modern facility since the structures are dilapidated and they need renovation or construction of new structures.
He also decried that the maternity ward is too congested, which has even prompted some mothers to sleep on the floor.
Bosco Wabyona, a resident of Nyangahaya Division, appeals for government intervention, asserting that men and women share the same structure and there is no privacy.
He also stresses that despite the dilapidated structures, services are poor since the hospital runs out of drugs consistently.
Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said that they had allocated one billion shillings towards the construction of new structures at Masindi Hospital, but the money was diverted.
