------------

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has called for the fast-tracking of works on health centres under construction.

This, the party says, will help improve service delivery in the health sector, especially in the underserved areas of the country.

Willis Bashasha, the director NRM Manifesto Implementation Unit, in the Office of the President, says they are aware that although many facilities are under construction across the country, work is not going according to plan in some of them.

"Some contractors cannot deliver, either due to lack of capacity or other factors," he said.

"The thinking, going forward, is that we could give consideration to fast-tracking of the processes. Where contractors have not delivered, effort can be made to reduce their contractual obligations so they can be able to deliver."

He added that delays to complete the works have resulted in reduced absorption of funds allocated to the projects in the national budget.

As a result, he said some of the monies have been returned to the national Treasury at the close of the financial year, and yet it is difficult to get this money returned to allow for work to resume.

"This has led to some of the projects being abandoned by contractors due to lack of money," he said, adding: " yet the citizens need to see these projects completed and serving them."

He was speaking during an NRM Manifesto Week event at the President's Office in Kampala on Tuesday.

During the event, a delegation from the health ministry, led by the Minister for Primary Healthcare Margaret Muhanga and the ministry's permanent secretary Diana Atwine, made presentations on how far they have gone at implementing the government's commitments in the 2021-2025 NRM manifesto.

Bashasha told the officials that the party also wants to see the operationalisation of the health management information systems.

"This should go a long way to solving management systems such as absenteeism and other related issues like drug thefts," he said.