Kawempe North Hospital which was founded by the jailed MP Muhammad Ssegirinya in July 2021 has been closed due to lack of funds to run the facility.
The hospital had four nurses, one doctor, 1 clinical officer, 1 laboratory technician and other casual workers. It was started with the aim to give primary health services to low-income earners in Kawempe North, South and other parts of Kampala for free.
The hospital administrators have said the facility has been struggling in terms of funds because the donors have withdrawn and to make matters worse its founder Ssegirinya’s accounts were all frozen and funds could not be accessed to run the hospital.
While closing the hospital on Friday, the Lord councillor of Rubaga North, James Mubiru who also doubles as the lawyer of the facility told the media that services at the hospital could not be run without funds.
“When we were establishing this facility, it was a tug of war. We took all the procedures any health centre can to be established. It was not easy to get the permit from KCCA.,” he said.
Mubiru said that it’s a shame to close the hospital when the government is just watching, adding that it has been the only health facility in the area.
This means that the lives of the poor people who cannot afford expensive private health facilities will be in danger.
“The health centre has been operating but it is very absurd today it has come to the closure due to financial issues. Hon Ssegirinya cannot access his funds. We raised this issue during the council meeting and asked KCCA to support the facility but it is very unfortunate that no help came through,” said Mubiru.
Mubiru called upon members of Parliament to come out and demand for the release of Ssegirinya to come back and give services to his people.
One of the hospital demonstrators, Thomas Bagonza, said the decision to close the hospital was decided because they were no longer in position to pay allowance and salary of the workers.
During its inception, the facility had 50 workers but at the moment there are only 16 workers because others resigned due to lack of pay. Other workers lost hope after getting the information that the donors had withdrawn, prompting them to quit.
Bagonza believes that it is not yet too late for the government to come and help so that the lives of people within the area are saved.
Ssegirinya’s dream was to make this facility a world-class hospital in Kawempe and one of the best in the country. The legislator had also embarked on numerous projects meant to uplift people in his constituency
However, all his dreams came to a halt after he was arrested and is still battling charges related to murder.
Ssegirinya and Allan Ssewanyana have been on remand at Kitalya government prison for 12 months on charges of murder, terrorism, and attempted murder relating to the wave of machete murders that hit the Greater Masaka region last year.
The MPs who are charged alongside the other 5 people have maintained their innocence.
