The Leader of Opposition – LOP in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga has decried the appalling state of critical infrastructure, and essential service breakdown in Mityana District.
Mpuuga has been on an oversight visit to the Mityana and toured health facilities, schools, road networks, and local government headquarters, and conducted various meetings with local leaders and civil servants.
While meeting with the LOP, Faustin Mukambwe Lukonge, the Mayor of Mityana Municipality cited financial constraints that have affected service delivery.
He cited the poorly maintained 402km of roads that are riddled with potholes, and poor drainage systems because they rely on only one grader owned by the district.
Mpuuga also visited Mityana Public School, the biggest of the 37 primary schools in the District with an enrolment of 1,450 learners.
Gerald Ssali, the Mityana Municipal Education Officer said school buildings are dilapidated, yet congested forcing teachers to conduct lessons in tents.
Mpuuga regretted the deplorable learning conditions at the school blaming it on the negligence of the Ministry which will affect the future dreams of the learners.
He promised that his oversight visit will shed more light on the school’s plight.
At Mityana General Hospital, the LOP was shocked that for more than five months, the facility did not have supplies of essential drugs, a situation that has risked the lives of patients seeking treatment.
The Medical Superintendent Dr. Timothy Ssentamu said told the LOP that Mityana General Hospital is experiencing a breakdown of equipment like beds, anesthetic machines, and patient monitors, posing a challenge in the management of patients with varying ailments.
At the time of the LOP’s visit to the facility, Dennis Musisi and his two children who had been knocked by a speeding truck the previous night on Thursday were brought to Mityana General Hospital but had not been attended to.
Their caretaker Jane Nakasagga says they did not have the money being asked for by the health workers.
The Medical Superintendent, Dr. Ssentamu explained that the hospital is short of medical supplies and in such circumstances, the patients are always asked to buy.
Dr. Ssentamu also says that the hospital has a high patient number with limited resources and requested an upgrade to a regional referral hospital status so that more supplies and staff can be availed to serve patients better.
Busujju County Member of Parliament, David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga accused Mityana Resident District Commissioner, Africano Aharikundira of intimidating civil servants to conceal information from the LOP.
Speaking after Mpuuga’s oversight tour of Bekiina Primary School in Busujju, Kalwanga said that the RDC had summoned head teachers of all government-aided schools in the district and warned them against telling the Opposition MPs the challenges they are facing. However, Aharikundira dismissed the allegations.