By Our Reporter
The Ministry of Health has spoken out on allegations of misappropriation of COVID-19 funds and supplies. This after recent media reports revealed that there were irregularities in the handling and distribution of COVID-19 supplies by the Ministry, citing a report by the Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit (BMAU) of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Ministry rubbished the accusations, claiming that they were based on an alleged draft report whose content had not been received or discussed with the Ministry.
“It is true that the Ministry of Health COVID-19 response plan had a budget estimate of UGX 2.2 trillion for a period of 18 months,” said Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Senior Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health. “This is to inform the public that by June 30th 2020 the Ministry had received UGX 119bn supplementary budget. The rest were off budget commitments and expenditures by partner organisations which was expected to be spent over the 18-month period.”
Emmanuel Ainebyoona further revealed that the Ministry of Health procured 4 oxygen plants for Mulago, Entebbe, Mbarara and Kayunga hospitals. He added that 87 ICU beds complete with ventilators, patient monitors and high flow oxygen therapy apparatus have also been delivered and distributed to the various facilities across the country.
“It is true that some hospitals had not received the ICU equipment by the time of monitoring due to lack of space. The Ministry is aware of the urgent need for expansion of the ICUs in these Hospitals and has requested for supplementary funding which it has not yet been made available. Currently, ICU equipment has been installed and commissioned in 11 hospitals.” He noted.
Meanwhile, Uganda has continued to get applauded by the international community for exceptional handling of the pandemic. A recent report by the Lancet Medical Journal ranked Uganda among the top 10 countries in the world in suppressing the COVID-19 pandemic.