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Dr Byarugaba Baterena was yesterday picked and detained by detectives from the State House Health Monitoring Unit.

The arrest of the top administrator of Mulago National Referral Hospital followed a year-long investigation into impropriety at the country’s largest public health facility, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

Dr Byarugaba Baterena, who was yesterday picked and detained by detectives from the State House Health Monitoring Unit, had also allegedly failed to attend earlier scheduled engagements with the investigation unit.

By press time yesterday evening, he was reported to be at the unit’s offices in Nakasero, Kampala, where he was said to be assisting them with the investigation.

Dr Rosemary Kusaba Byanyima, a consultant radiologist, who was recently appointed as the substantive deputy executive director by President Museveni, was expected to take charge of the hospital while the matter remains under investigation.

Investigations

Mulago hospital investigations concerns the mismanagement of more than Shs40 billion over four financial years, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

The sources spoke to us on condition of anonymity in order not to jeopardise the ongoing investigations.

Six people had already been arrested, most in the previous week, by the time Dr Baterena was taken into custody.

The investigation is believed to rotate around procurement, human resource management, and financial audits.

Investigators are looking into allegations that some of the supplies made to Mulago hospital were fictitious and made through non-existent companies.

The six officers earlier taken in to assist with the investigations include the principal hospital administrator, the hospital engineer, the head of accounts, a senior accountant, and an accounts assistant.

A source, who preferred anonymity because they are not authorised to speak about the matter, said the six accused persons could be prosecuted for “abuse of office, causing financial loss, and embezzlement”.

The officials had not been charged with any offence by press time yesterday.

The source informed Monitor that Dr Baterana had failed to honour several invitations to record a statement with the unit.

He, however, informed the investigating officers through his lawyers that he would appear to record a statement on February 28.

He was unable to show up, according to our sources, prompting the detectives to swing into action and grab him and “help him to record a statement”.

Monitor has learnt that Dr Baterana’s challenges and those at the hospital “are not new” and stem from State House and are well known to the current leadership at the Health ministry.

In April 2016, Dr Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary in the Health ministry, who was then the director of State House Medicine and Health Service Delivery Monitoring Unit, appeared before Parliament and blamed the mess at Mulago on “gross incompetence and corruption”.

She warned that Mulago hospital would be run down unless the Health ministry addressed poor medicine storage, absenteeism and poor work attitude by health workers.

Both Dr Baterana and Dr Atwine’s predecessor, Dr Asuman Lukwago, defended the Mulago hospital management and said the national referral hospital was operating on meagre resources.

Dr Atwine, through the same State House unit that has taken Dr Baterena into custody, had raised concerns about dubious deals and inflated procurement costs running into billions of shillings in the health sector in 2011.

Tensions between Dr Atwine and Dr Baterena intensified when unsubstantiated reports linked the latter to the permanent secretary job at the Health ministry. President Museveni, however, reappointed Dr Atwine in the last reshuffle, and maintained Dr Baterena at Mulago hospital.

In April last year, Dr Baterana raised concerns about a section of the health facility agents and some of their staff diverting patients from the hospital to other health facilities.

There were also reports of infighting over Covid-19 related resources between the Health ministry officials and their counterparts at Mulago.

In January, Parliament’s Committee on Health said it was going to investigate the existence and operations of private pharmacies inside Mulago hospital.

First Pharmacy and Ecopharm, two privately-owned pharmacies, operate within the hospital premises.

President Museveni had, in 2019, directed the National Drug Authority (NDA) to cancel licences of the two private pharmacies operating in Mulago.

Dr Baterena, however, told law makers that the order was stayed following legal advice from the Attorney General.

At the same parliamentary meet, Dr Baterena lashed out at ministers, legislators and top government officials, whom he accused of frustrating efforts by the hospital to generate revenue.

He said they continuously demand free services at their private section but did not support efforts by the facility to raise revenue.

Dr Baterana said it was disturbing that politicians don’t want to pay for hospital services and expect peasants to pay for the same. He said efforts in this direction have been frustrated by ministers, MPs and other political leaders.

A physician, Dr Baterena has been at the helm of the facility since 2011. Investigations continue into the matter.

Profile

Mulago hospital investigations concerns the mismanagement of more than Shs40 billion over four financial years, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

The investigation is believed to rotate around procurement, human resource management, and financial audits.

Investigators are looking into allegations that some of the supplies made to Mulago hospital were fictitious and made through non-existent companies.

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