Video: Several pre-medical interns arrested in Kampala protest
Policemen arrest some of the medical interns that were protesting in Kampala on April 24, 2023. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Police in Wandegeya yesterday arrested 37 medical interns who claimed the government was taking its sweet time to deploy them.
The interns, who were carrying placards with protest messages, were intercepted on their way to Parliament and the President’s office, where they planned to hand over petitions detailing their grievances.
“We graduated last year and we are supposed to enroll for a compulsory medical internship but it’s unfair that the government is keeping us home for more than a year,” Ms Judith Nalukwago, a member of Uganda Pre-medical Interns Association, said during a press briefing at Mulago Galloway House in Kampala before the arrests.
Police officers intercept protesting medical interns in Kampala on April 24, 2023. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
The interns graduated last year and are required to undertake a compulsory one year medical internship before they register to legally practice medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and midwifery.
Ms Nalukwago said they had been engaging the relevant authorities in vain.
“You (Ministry of Health) said you don’t have money but it is being put to waste. Why do you want to post us in farthest areas such as Kotido without accommodation, meals and transport, yet you want us to work for 24 hours a day?” she asked.
Policemen arrest a medical intern who together with several others were marching to Parliament in protest on April 24, 2023. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
A male pre-medical intern reacts following his arrest during a protest in Kampala on April 24, 2023. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
The protest happened amid an ongoing social media campaign dubbed #UgandaHealthExhibition.
The week-long campaign is purposed to project critical issues in Uganda’s health sector.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson, Mr Luke Owoyesigire, yesterday confirmed that the group had been detained on allegations of holding unlawful assembly.
The arrest came two weeks after the first protest where three medical interns were arrested.
A female medical intern gestures alongside her protesting colleagues after they were arrested by police in Kampala on April 24, 2023. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
On March 31, the Ministry of Health, through Dr Henry Mwebesa, the country’s Director General of Health Services, in a letter to the interns, said the delays were as a result of ongoing detailed consultations with various stakeholders.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health, through its spokesperson Emmanuel Ainebyoona, said they were finalising plans to have the interns deployed.
When this publication contacted Mr Ainebyoona, he promised to get back after his meeting. He hadn’t by press time.
A male medical intern reacts following his arrest during a protest in Kampala on April 24, 2023. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
