By KT Reporter
Erute South Member of Parliament Jonathan Odur, a Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) stalwart, has criticized the government for failing to provide adequate cancer care to Ugandans.
While addressing mourners over the weekend at the burial of Acam Betty Lidya Yine in Alai Village, Agwiciri Parish, Inomo Sub County, Kwania District, Odur accused the NRM-led government of neglecting cancer patients. Acam Betty was the head teacher of Agulu Primary School and wife to Felix Ambrosi Yine, the former Speaker of Apac District.
Odur said many Ugandans are dying unnecessarily due to inadequate services at facilities like Mulago National Cancer Institute.
“Mulago Cancer Institute, like other health facilities in Uganda, is as rotten as the State House system down to the grassroots. There are no drugs; one has to pay a million shillings weekly for cancer treatment. Patients are sleeping in the corridors of Mulago to access care. As Lango, we should not spare the NRM. Let’s vote out all NRM candidates in the 2026 general election.”
Odur rallied Lango voters to reject all NRM candidates in the upcoming 2026 elections and instead vote in competent UPC representatives who, he said, can restore Uganda’s crumbling health system. Frederick Ogwang Oye, Prime Minister of Lango Cultural Foundation and Clan Head of Inomo, echoed Odur’s concerns.
He urged the community to prioritize regular health checkups and early cancer screening, emphasizing the importance of timely medical attention. Ogwang also discouraged the use of Traditional Birth Attendants, urging men to take expectant mothers to health facilities to curb maternal and infant mortality.
“Whenever you feel unwell, go to the hospital and get tested. We should regularly visit hospitals to receive treatment early. I urge men to take their wives to health facilities and stop taking them to traditional birth attendants. Let’s do this to save the lives of mothers and their babies.”
Kwania District Woman MP Kenny Auma Lapat assured residents that plans were underway, in partnership with Kwania North MP Bob Okae, to organize a medical camp to provide cancer and other essential health services in the district. Auma also called on men to emulate Felix Ambrosi Yine, whom she praised for standing by his late wife during her battle with cancer.
Meanwhile, the burden at Mulago’s Cancer Institute continues to mount. Dr. Kigula Mugambe, head of the radiotherapy department, revealed that more than 80 patients remain stranded due to limited access to radiotherapy, a treatment using radiation to destroy cancer cells and alleviate pain.
According to Dr. Jackson Orem, Executive Director of Uganda Cancer Institute, the facility receives 1,000 new cancer cases every month, 600 of whom are children. The institute also manages approximately 9,000 continuing adult cases and about 4,500 children annually. Cancer experts estimate that for every 100,000 Ugandans, there are 200 new cancer cases at any given time, reflecting a growing public health crisis-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
