Members\nof Parliament have voiced strong opposition to a proposal by government to loan\na private company Shs1.3trillion (USD379.7m) to finance the construction of a\nspecialised hospital in Lubowa, Wakiso District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nInternational Specialised Hospital of Uganda, whose construction was launched\nby President Yoweri Museveni in 2016, has since stalled due to lack of funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\na proposal through the Finance State Minister, Hon David Bahati, Italian\ninvestors under the name Finasi Roko Construction SPV Limited now want to have\nthe project financed through a promissory note from government, a request that\neasily sparked controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the promissory note is guaranteed by\nParliament, government is to finance the firm to construct and run the\nspecialized facility and pay back within eight years from the commencement of\noperations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bahati\nwanted Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah to have the matter decided without being\ntaken to the Committee on National Economy, a proposal MPs shot down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP\nSam Lyomoki (NRM, Workers), saw shame in the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\nare stuck with Mulago Hospital\u2026this type of motion is a shame to government;\nwhy can\u2019t we finance Mulago instead?\u201d said Lyomoki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nfound an ally in MP Hassan Kaps Fungaroo (FDC, Obongi).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\nwould like to know who the owners of this company are. Why do we have investors\nwho do not have money? Why don\u2019t we invest our own money instead of giving it\nto investors who don\u2019t have money?\u201d said Fungaroo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nalso took issue with the hospital\u2019s location, saying it should be taken to\nKaramoja or other districts upcountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP\nMuhammad Nsereko (IND, Kampala Central) said the proposal should be defeated\nand five regional referral hospitals be constructed in its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis\ncountry is yearning for referral hospitals\u2026we can use this money to construct\none regional referral hospital in five regions instead of financing a private\ncentre,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP\nRonnie Mutebi (Buikwe South) supported the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis\ncountry has been committing a lot of money in taking Ugandans out of the\ncountry for treatment\u2026I don\u2019t see anything wrong with that project,\u201d said\nMutebi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister\nBahati placed the money incurred on medical tourism at Shs267.7b (USD 73m) in\nevery Financial Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nsaid the country will ultimately save that money should the project be\nfinanced, and the specialised treatment sought abroad instead offered in\nUganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oulanyah\nreferred the matter to the Committee on National Economy, giving it 20 working\ndays within which to report its findings to the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nwas a compromise position resulting from a proposal by Bahati to have the\nmatter considered without Committee input, a matter that attracted intense\nopposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MP Muwanga Kivumbi (DP, Butambala) said the proposal couldn\u2019t be considered without Committee scrutiny, saying that would violate article 159 of the Constitution and section 39 of the Public Finance Management Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parliamentary News<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Members of Parliament have voiced strong opposition to a proposal by government to loan a private company Shs1.3trillion (USD379.7m) to finance the construction of a specialised hospital in Lubowa, Wakiso District. The International Specialised Hospital of Uganda, whose construction was launched by President Yoweri Museveni in 2016, has since stalled due to lack of funds. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":8109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n