Anger as police fail to trace Shs300m Arua ambulance
One of the ambulances donated to Arua Regional Referral Hospital to transport Covid-19 patients last year. PHOTO/FELIX WAROM OKELLO
What you need to know:
- In 2008, two microscopes were discovered missing from the central and caretakers of patients have frequently lost their motorcycles and bicycles parked inside the fence near the hospital gate.
On March 28, a Shs300m ambulance for Arua hospital mysteriously went missing from the guarded hospital premises.
However, two months later, police detectives say they are yet to trace it.
In an interview with the Daily Monitor, the public relations officer for police in West Nile, Mr Hudson Ocheng, said four guards had since been arrested and taken to court.
“The issue is being handled. People should desist from expressing anger,” he said on Tuesday.
Some sources who requested for privacy to speak freely said the ambulance was driven towards Aru Town in the DR Congo.
Others claim the ambulance was cited in Bunia in the DR Congo.
Daily Monitor couldn’t independently verify this information.
The government spokesperson for Ituri Territory in Aru Town, eastern DR Congo, Mr Corneille Aluma, said they had requested through the Resident City Commissioner to be availed with the logbook of the ambulance so that they can track down the thieves.
“We have also shared a file with the Bunia security,’’ she said.
The DR Congo and South Sudan where the ambulance is suspected to be, have numerous porous border points.
The senior communications officer at the Ministry of Health, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, said: “We are still waiting for the investigations from police. We cannot take any action (against the hospital management) before the police concludes its report.”
The hospital director, Dr Filbert Nyeko, said: “It is not necessary for locals to keep pointing fingers at the hospitals administration. We need to work together for the good of our healthcare,” he said.
Issues
Arua Regional Referral hospital has been grappling with cases of theft of equipment in the past, some of which are under police investigations.
For instance, two years ago, an autoclave machine and assorted tool kits worth Shs500 million went missing. It was later recovered from Nebbi District.
In 2008, two microscopes were discovered missing from the central and caretakers of patients have frequently lost their motorcycles and bicycles parked inside the fence near the hospital gate.
