Prominent Ugandans are treated abroad, what about Ugandans who cannot afford ?- Rubongoya

Rubongoya noted Gen. Elly Tumwine, Gen. Pecos Kutesa, Prof. Emmanuel Mutebile and the former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah are some of the prominent Ugandans who have died abroad this year.

He wondered about a health system so weak that it necessitates such prominent persons to travel abroad for treatment. What happens to millions of Ugandans who cannot travel abroad for treatment, he asked.

Instead of building modern hospitals, Rubongoya claims government has failed to prioritise.

“We have fighter jets which come out on ceremonies every five years, but we probably have no single air ambulance. If it is there, it’s a reserve of the few privileged,” he said.

“Instead of paying health workers better,” he added that president Yoweri Museveni’s government would rather pay off artistes to praise it as well as buying off political opponents for the same.

“They never boast of the big numbers of patients that can be accommodated in hospitals, but they speak in praise of their capacity to imprison thousands of citizens at any given time,” he said.

Brain Drain

Rubongoya said Ugandan doctors and other trained medical personnel have left the country due to the biting poverty in the country.

“They [doctors] simply left because of poor working conditions, the absence of equipment, and the lack of opportunities for growth. You can’t ignore the common good for good,” he asserted.

Rubongoya said Ugandans must accept their shared destiny in order to benefit from a unity of purpose to overcome the declining living standards in the country.