Parliament report reveals widespread failures in equipping Uganda's health facilities

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A parliamentary report has revealed that the government has fallen significantly short of its pledges to upgrade, rehabilitate, construct and equip public health facilities across Uganda.

The Committee on Government Assurances and Implementation, chaired by Dr Abed Bwanika (Kimaanya-Kabonera Division, NUP), presented its findings to Parliament on August 7, 2025.

The report notes that most of the government’s health infrastructure promises, ranging from the installation of CT scans and oxygen plants to the construction of new health centres, have not been fully implemented.

The committee reviewed progress on key health sector commitments made between the financial years 2019/20 and 2024/25.

These included:

The upgrading of health centre IIs to HC IIIs, construction of new HC IIIs in underserved areas, equipping of upgraded and newly built health centres, recruitment of medical personnel, installation of CT scans, oxygen plants and ICU beds in all regional referral hospitals (RRHs), rehabilitation of Busolwe General Hospital, and reconstruction of Kilembe Mines Hospital.

Others included the construction of a new Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. While Parliament had approved over sh552 billion in loans under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UgIFT) programmes to support these goals, the report found widespread delays and irregularities.

Out of 124 HC IIs slated for upgrade to HC III, only two facilities, Kaina and Kafunjo in Ntungamo district, had been fully upgraded. Another 47 were under construction, with the majority progressing at under 50 percent. The remaining 81 projects had not begun.

Similarly, of the 62 new HC IIIs under UgIFT II, only three had been completed. Construction of 28 was ongoing, and 31 had yet to start.

The committee highlighted several implementation challenges, including defective construction work, delayed project completion due to poor supervision, non-compliance with design standards, missing contract documentation and delays in fund disbursement from the Ministry of Finance.

Other issues were double payments to contractors and the centralisation of contract decisions at the Ministry of Health, which sidelined district authorities. For instance, sh400 million was reportedly sent to the Ministry of Defence for completing Ober HC IV (Lira city), despite an existing contract with a private firm.

The committee found that many regional hospitals still lack essential infrastructure and equipment, including functional ICUs, CT scans and oxygen plants. Several items procured under COVID-19 emergency funding were never installed or accounted for.

The key recommendations include:

A forensic audit by the Auditor General into the implementation of UgIFT I and II projects within six months; a roadmap from the Ministry of Health to close health infrastructure gaps nationwide; and prioritised funding for the construction and maintenance of CT scan and ICU infrastructure in RRHs.

Other proposals included full operationalisation of oxygen plants, including upgrades to power capacity and funding for maintenance; restoration of Kilembe Mines Hospital on its original site and reinstatement of its equipment and staff; and formal acquisition of land from Soroti University to construct a modern Soroti RRH that can serve both medical students and the public.

MPs voice concern

Speaker of Parliament Anita Among decried the chronic understaffing of regional referral hospitals, noting that patients are often referred abroad for basic care. “Soroti Regional Referral Hospital does not deserve the title,” Among remarked.

Sarah Opendi (District Woman MP, Tororo) called for increased funding to fix deteriorating hospital infrastructure and urged the government to pass the National Health Insurance Scheme to ease citizens’ access to care.