Masaka Hospital theatre idle for 10 years

By Dismus Buregyeya

The Kyanamukaka Health Centre IV in Masaka district has a theatre that has not been operational since it was constructed in the 2003.

The theatre was constructed by the Ministry of Health to serve the three sub-counties of Kabonera, Kyesiga and Kyanamukaka.

“The theatre failed to work because the ministry used a defective architectural plan, which needs to be overhauled,” Kyanamukaka LC3 chairman Paul Migadde said.

He blamed the ministry for constructing facilities without involving the local communities. “They keep everything to themselves, including the bid documents and later abandon us with a useless theatre, which cost millions of taxpayers’ money.

How are we expected to monitor and supervise what they are doing?” he asked.

The health centre boss, Festo Njuki, said he was deployed to take over the health centre in 2011. He said lack of an operational theatre is one of the biggest challenges.

“Lack of a functioning theatre makes us look on as patients travel long distances to access the facility elsewhere,” he said.