Health minister, MPs blocked from accessing Lubowa Hospital site

KAMPALA-A team of government officials and Members of Parliament who were Tuesday led by the Health Minister, Dr Ruth Aceng has been blocked from accessing a proposed site for the construction of a specialised hospital at Lubowa, in Wakiso District.

The team included MPs on the Committee of National Economy; Dr Diana Atwine, the health ministry permanent secretary and other officials who were at the site at 10:30 am for the planned visit.

However, workers at the site declined to open the gate to the site.

Repeated knocks and loud demands by members of the team fell on deaf ears.

Technically, the Health ministry owns the site.

However, Finasi/Roko Construction SPV Limited and Finasi International FZC and are embroiled in a litigation battle with Roko Construction Company over a sub-contract deal.

The project is being financed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) loan that was guaranteed by the government of Uganda.

It’s unclear why the officials and MPs, who wanted to visit the site, as part of their oversight responsibility, were prevented from accessing the site.

However, Dr Aceng said that Mr Keith Muhakanizi, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance wrote a letter to Deputy Speaker, Mr Jacob Oulanyah advising MPs not to visit the site.

“The letter was addressed to the right honourable Deputy Speaker. It is not addressed to me. It is only copied to me. I received it this morning,” Dr Aceng said.

SPV later said in a statement that the unfortunate incident was caused by the lack of appropriate notification to the SPV regarding the intended visit by the Ministry of Health, the owner of the project.

The contractor said that they expect to get adequate notice for the next visit so the necessary arrangements can be made.

“It is critical procedure at all construction sites that health and safety measures must be sufficiently adhered to at all times for all persons, including visitors.  On the site, there are heavy moving machinery and equipment, open trenches among others that are potentially hazardous to human life if not well managed,” SPV said. “This requires proper planning and safety measures to be taken prior to admission of members of the public into the site. This is an industry practice as well as standard operating procedures for a construction site.” 

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Construction firm, police clash over Lubowa hospital land

Mr Mark Koehler, the managing director of Roko Construction Limited, accused the police of acting illegally, insisting that the court order allows them to be on the site