The State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties, Anifa Kawooya, has urged Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara to focus his anti-corruption campaign on major scandals affecting public services and taxpayers’ money. Kawooya said while Balaam’s campaign against corruption was “awakening” the public, he should direct more attention to cases where communities are suffering, and large sums of public money are at stake.
Kawooya’s statements follow her visit to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital in Gulu City on Friday, where she inspected an incomplete staff housing project on which the government has invested about Shs6 billion. The 54-unit staff accommodation project was started in 2014 and was expected to be completed and commissioned in 2017. However, the project has remained incomplete for 12 years after the contractor, Block Technical Services Ltd, reportedly abandoned the site.
“Why is Honourable Balaam rushing on those two million, this… whatever? Yes, he is awakening, but this is where he must be focusing. Balaam must be focusing on where there is the cry of the people. Hon Minister (Balaam) must focus,” Kawooya said. Kawooya urged Balaam to visit the hospital and conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the stalled construction of the hospital staff accommodation.
She added that the project raises questions about supervision and accountability, given the amount of public money already invested in it. “You can’t have a building supervised by a city engineer, and you (Balaam) are still in Sembabule. You come here; we must save the money, we must get the corrupt people out of our community. They are with us,” she said. Kawoya pledged that the Ministry of Health would pursue the matter and strengthen efforts to combat corruption in health-sector infrastructure projects.
Walter Uryekwun, the Principal Assistant Secretary at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, said Uryekwun said the hospital management had repeatedly raised the matter with the Ministry of Health and the contractor, but the contractor requested an additional Shs3 billion to complete the works.
“We had to move on to engage the engineers to give us a bill of quantities on how much we need to complete this building. We are told we need about three billion shillings to complete this building, which request we also shared with the Ministry of Health,” he said.
Kawooya, however, rejected calls for additional funding to complete the project, arguing that the existing structure had been poorly executed, and parts of its extension needed to be demolished due to prolonged exposure to weather after years of stagnation. “Most of our structures in the Ministry of Health have been abandoned; contractors have been paid, they have gone scot-free, and this is the time of no more sleeping on the job, zero corruption and no more politeness,” Kawooya said.
According to Uryek-Wun, investigations into the stalled project are ongoing by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, adding that the Ministry of Health is aware of the need to have the facility completed. He said the incomplete accommodation has compounded the hospital’s staffing challenges, with only about 13 percent of the hospital’s staff currently having access to staff accommodation.
Gulu Resident City Commissioner Ambrose Onoria questioned who approved the works and authorised payments to the contractor, arguing that the project could not have reached its current stage without officials certifying it. “The question is, who is the responsible person? The Minister of Health is supposed to have had somebody to oversee this, an engineer. They’re supposed to be engineers. You cannot reach this level when somebody has not signed a certificate for you to be paid. So, who signed the certificate? Who? Somebody was there. Somebody said the work is okay,” he said.
Onoria said the city authorities would make fresh formal reports and raise the matter with the Presidency for further investigation. Efforts to get comments from Innocent Rugyero, the Managing Director of Block Technical Services Ltd, were futile by press time. During a site visit at the stalled staff housing facility, officials raised concerns over the quality of construction materials used and the design of some sections of the housing units.
Particular, they singled out the metallic materials used for the windows and doors, describing them as substandard, and questioned the quality of the roofing. Further questions were also raised about the height of the housing units, some of which appeared unusually low-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
