News
Use funding for official ceremonies to pay medical interns - Ssenyonyi
“That is a bother because we are going to have a challenge. These medical interns are professionals like anybody else. If they don’t have money even for accommodation, for feeding, how shall we expect them to show up even without transport to take care of us, including us in this place and our constituents out there?” Ssenyonyi wondered.
The Nakawa West Member of Parliament (MP) made the proposal during plenary on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Credit: Maria Wamala)
By: Dedan Kimathi and John Odyek, Journalists @New Vision
KAMPALA - Leader of the Opposition (LOP) Joel Ssenyonyi has asked Government to redirect funds meant for public functions to cover medical interns’ allowances.
The Nakawa West Member of Parliament (MP) made the proposal during plenary on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
The development comes more than a week after the Ramathan Ggoobi the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury announced that as a cost cutting measure, they were moving away from funding events such as Labor Day and Independence Day among others.
Section 17 (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act states that for one to practice Medicine, Surgery or Dental Surgery among others, he or she must have studied from a University recognized by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.
In addition, he or she must also satisfy the council that he or she has acquired experience by satisfactorily serving a full-time internship in a hospital approved by the council.
However, Ssenyonyi said that while securing funding for medical interns has long been a challenge, the freeze on financing public events should eliminate that constraint.
Before warning Government that forcing interns to finance their own training, shall have devastating consequences for the country's health sector.
“Medical interns form the crux of the medical infrastructure in our country. They literally run Government hospitals and health centers in all our constituencies. Sometimes they work 36 hours, other times they work 48 hours nonstop to take care of the people of Uganda.
Government has historically facilitated them to this week. They finish the training and then they do the one-year internship of work but we understand Government is now mooting a policy to cease facilitating medical interns, to cease paying them for the laborious work that they do,” he contended.
“That is a bother because we are going to have a challenge. These medical interns are professionals like anybody else. If they don’t have money even for accommodation, for feeding, how shall we expect them to show up even without transport to take care of us, including us in this place and our constituents out there?” Ssenyonyi wondered.
However, Ssenyonyi said that while securing funding for medical interns has long been a challenge, the freeze on financing public events should eliminate that constraint.
Before warning Government that forcing interns to finance their own training, shall have devastating consequences for the country's health sector.
“Medical interns form the crux of the medical infrastructure in our country. They literally run Government hospitals and health centers in all our constituencies. Sometimes they work 36 hours, other times they work 48 hours nonstop to take care of the people of Uganda.
Government has historically facilitated them to this week. They finish the training and then they do the one-year internship of work but we understand Government is now mooting a policy to cease facilitating medical interns, to cease paying them for the laborious work that they do,” he contended.
“That is a bother because we are going to have a challenge. These medical interns are professionals like anybody else. If they don’t have money even for accommodation, for feeding, how shall we expect them to show up even without transport to take care of us, including us in this place and our constituents out there?” Ssenyonyi wondered.
Govt responds
However, while responding Prime Minister Robinnah Nabbanja reminded her colleague that she was a minister for health (general duties) sometime back and that it is the President who had directed for the payment of interns, not the opposition.
Before arguing that while that had been the case, the privatization of the tertiary institutions has led to a boom in students offering medical related courses and the policy is no longer tenable.
“I beg that the minister of health can come with a comprehensive report here,” she ordered.
Funding for official ceremonies in 2025/26
This is not the first time Ssenyonyi has called for the reprioritization of funds earmarked for public events. In June last year, he told New Vision that the Sh46.5 billion allocated for public functions in the 2025/26 financial year should instead have been channeled towards long-neglected social services rather than ceremonial optics.
"We need about Sh3 billion to build a Health Centre IV, and there are many places that have none, are in a dilapidated state, or have no medicine. Look at the infrastructure. Many roads in Kampala are in a mess. On average, a kilometer of good tarmac is Sh3.5 billion, but the Government was telling us there was no money," Ssenyonyi said.
However, the then state minister for finance (general duties) Henry Musasizi challenged opposition members to explicitly identify the ceremonies they consider irrelevant, rather than making blanket statements.
"Our budget is activity-led. The key question is: What are these ceremonies? You have official public holidays and I am sure you know that we have a swearing-in ceremony in the next budget. They should not just speak and talk. What is it that we are financing? That's how best I can answer them," Musasizi stated then.
However, while responding Prime Minister Robinnah Nabbanja reminded her colleague that she was a minister for health (general duties) sometime back and that it is the President who had directed for the payment of interns, not the opposition.
Before arguing that while that had been the case, the privatization of the tertiary institutions has led to a boom in students offering medical related courses and the policy is no longer tenable.
“I beg that the minister of health can come with a comprehensive report here,” she ordered.
Funding for official ceremonies in 2025/26
This is not the first time Ssenyonyi has called for the reprioritization of funds earmarked for public events. In June last year, he told New Vision that the Sh46.5 billion allocated for public functions in the 2025/26 financial year should instead have been channeled towards long-neglected social services rather than ceremonial optics.
"We need about Sh3 billion to build a Health Centre IV, and there are many places that have none, are in a dilapidated state, or have no medicine. Look at the infrastructure. Many roads in Kampala are in a mess. On average, a kilometer of good tarmac is Sh3.5 billion, but the Government was telling us there was no money," Ssenyonyi said.
However, the then state minister for finance (general duties) Henry Musasizi challenged opposition members to explicitly identify the ceremonies they consider irrelevant, rather than making blanket statements.
"Our budget is activity-led. The key question is: What are these ceremonies? You have official public holidays and I am sure you know that we have a swearing-in ceremony in the next budget. They should not just speak and talk. What is it that we are financing? That's how best I can answer them," Musasizi stated then.