Prime
Govt takes over Luweero hospital, offices projects
Luweero District officials at the site of the 200-bed hospital under construction in May. PHOTO/DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
The stakeholders are optimistic that the takeover will lead to quick completion and expansion of major departments.
The task of completing works at Luweero hospital and the Luweero District Administration headquarters, will now fall under direct supervision and funding of the central government, the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, has said.
While visiting the hospital site on Sunday, Ms Nabbanja revealed that President Museveni has already issued directives for the UPDF Engineering Brigade to take charge of the construction.
“I have already been briefed that the UPDF Engineering brigade has inspected the facilities in preparation for the works,” the premier said.
Funding for these projects will be included in the supplementary government budgets.
“It is true that the district has been using different local contractors for the two projects and constructing in phases whenever money is available. But now the UPDF Brigade does the work on behalf of the government of Uganda. You will now concentrate on the other projects including the roads, mobilising the people for social and economic transformation. The unending song about the stalled works will come to an end,” Ms Nabbanja told the leaders.
Mr Ronald Ndawula, the Luweero District NRM party chairperson, said the completion of the structures will change the face of Luweero to the advantage of the NRM.
“This is a positive gesture by the NRM government. We have endured the backlash and mocking by opponents of the NRM government over the unfulfilled district projects. We pray that the government completes the structures before the 2026 General Elections,” he said.
The Luweero District chairperson, Mr Erusto Kibirango, in an interview yesterday emphasised the need for additional space at the hospital to handle the increasing number of patients.
“We hope the hospital will open the other departments when the block is completed,” he said.
The Luweero District Health Officer Dr Innocent Nkonwa, said the hospital will have enough space to open up some of departments that are currently non-operational.
The strategic location of Luweero hospital on the busy Kampala-Gulu Highway makes the facility one of the busiest referral facilities for patients, including the motor crash victims.
The facility records indicate that about 10 crash victims are received every day while the patient turnout at the maternity wing for expectant mothers on average is about 85 mothers per day.
The outpatient turnout is 200 patients on average per day.
The projects
Luweero hospital. Before the upgrade of Luweero Health Centre IV to a general hospital in 2011, the leadership in Luweero had embarked on the construction of a 200-bed patient ward.
The five-storeyed ward estimated at Shs7.2b has been under construction for the last 12 years, with the construction planned in 11 phases over the lack of sufficient funds. Currently, the first and second floors are complete and occupied.
District administration headquarters. In 2016, the district council under the then district chairperson, Mr Ronald Ndawula, embarked on the construction of the four-storeyed district office block after the long wait for the promised compensation of the district by the government through the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.
President Museveni had earlier pledged that the government would compensate Luweero for the buildings taken over by the Ministry of Defence in Bombo through the construction of a district headquarter building. This was in the early years of the NRM government rule, but the repeated reminders for the government to fulfil the pledge had failed to yield fruit, forcing the district to use locally-sourced funds. The administration block was in 2016 estimated to cost about Shs6.8b, but the rising costs for construction materials could likely cause the costs to shoot to about Shs7.5b.
