Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
SOON OR LATER, THE NRM REVOLUTION COULD BE CONSIGNED TO THE DUST BIN OF HISTORY AS GADDAFI'S GREEN BOOK!
With Gaddafi toppled, Libyans rejoice that they are no longer forced to study the compulsory tract, The Green Book. The once best selling book now has no buyers and people are free to say what they think of it.
Libya’s number one best selling book is familiar to every Libyan, as they were forced to study it from the age of eight for two hours every week. Penned by Muammar Gaddafi, ‘Al-Kitab -al-Akhdar’, better known as the ‘Green Book’, was published in 1975. Subtitled ‘The Solution to the Problems of Democracy; The Social Basis in the Third Universal Theory’ the compulsory tract is a rambling treatise of disconnected, often contradictory thoughts, with an unintentionally comical element.
The Green Book can be read in its entirety here, courtesy of the 9/11 Truth Net. It perfectly epitomizes one of Gaddafi’s central tenets that
“Freedom of expression is the right of every person, even if a person chooses to behave irrationally to express his or her insanity.”
The Libyan people were not allowed the freedom of expression to say what they really thought about Gaddafi’s book, but Aljazeera reports that they no longer have to hide their contempt for it.
For a leader who often showed glimmers of brilliance in projects such as the man made river, and plans to link the price of oil to gold rather than the US dollar, Gaddafi often states the blatantly obvious in his book. He wrote such gems as
“Men do not become pregnant and give breast-feeding”
and explained that men are aggressive
“By virtue of their inbred nature.”
Muammar al-Gaddafi: The Green Book
Wikipedia
Muammar al-Gaddafi: The Green Book
Like this
His views on women are contradictory yet protective. He wrote women
“Are like blossoms who are created to attract pollen and to produce seeds…A woman is tender; a woman is pretty; a woman weeps easily and is easily frightened.”
Yet after declaring this, Gaddafi famously protected himself with 40 virgin female bodyguards, taking them on his travels as part of his extravagant entourage. As civil war intensified he armed the women of Tripoli and sent them on military training courses.
When Benghazi fell to rebel control at the beginning of the Libyan conflict, the BBC reported that one of the first buildings to be attacked was the Centre for the Recitation and Study of the Green Book.
According to Aljazeera many copies of the book were burned during the conflict and now booksellers can’t even give copies away. They quote Libyans claiming the book is
“silly”, “crazy”, and “A waste of time.”
Libyans are now free to make fun of the tract which will play no part in the education of the people. Instead it will be consigned to the dustbin of history along with Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/311572#ixzz3Hq78rEKJ
THE BOOK: http://911-truth.net/other-books/Muammar-Qaddafi-Green-Book-Eng.pdf
MUSEVENI DISOWNS BASAJJABALABA OVER FORGERIES
State House says President Museveni (Right) had no hand in approving Basajjabalaba’s claims.
By Monitor Team
Posted Sunday, October 2 2011 at 00:00
Kampala. In a strongly worded statement, State House has disowned businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba and said it will investigate forgeries of its documents by “crooks” in the wake of Basajjabalaba’s claims that President Museveni okayed his Shs142 billion compensation.
On Thursday, Basajjabalaba told parliamentarians of the Public Accounts Committee –PAC - that after government cancelled his tenders to run a number of markets in Kampala city under the instructions of President Museveni, he sought compensation to which the President assented.
But in statement on Friday, State House described Basajjabalaba’s claim that the President approved his Shs142 billion compensation as “totally false” and would proceed to investigate if the businessman or any other parties forged State House documents to defraud government.
“The public should be informed that State House is looking into forgeries of its documents, perpetuated by some crooks,” the head of legal department at State House, Ms Joy Kabatsi, wrote. Ms Kabatsi, however, acknowledges that the President instructed Finance and Bank of Uganda to “expedite compensation due to Basajjabalaba” without mentioning the specifics of the financial value involved.
“At no time did the President mention a figure, either by word or in writing that would be a basis for such compensation. This is not his work. He does not have the competence to do it. This is the work of government valuers,” Ms Kabatsi said.
‘Properties more valuable’
Speaking to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee this week, Mr Basajjabalaba insisted that he and President Museveni “discussed these issues in detail” in December 2006 and that Museveni ordered that the matter be resolved within 60 days.
Mr Basajjabalaba told MPs that if they thought the compensation was exaggerated, he was willing to return the money to the city authority, saying they should reinstate his market sub-leases.
“Some people in government think I was given a lot of money. I would be happy if government returns the markets and the Constitution Square because the properties are worth more in value than the current money,” said the businessman. “The time gap is what is causing these differences and accumulation. In 11 years, we [have] lost a lot of businesses. We have to seek compensation and the President asked the Attorney General to handle the matter.”
In May, President Museveni described Basajjabalaba’s claim of Shs142b as “ridiculous and unacceptable” in a letter to the then Finance Minister Syda Bbumba. He also called for investigations of Finance Ministry officials he believed were involved in dubious loan agreements and settling “unacceptable” claims.
In a twist of events, however, Mr Basajjabalaba has secured an interim order stopping investigations into his claims and any subsequent cancellation of Shs142.6b awarded to him for the lost deals in City markets. An interim order of the Land Division of the High Court dated September 19 was issued against the Attorney General and government agencies from backtracking on the award of Shs142.6b to Basajjabalaba’s Haba Group for “the lands acquired compulsorily by the government”.
The interim order reads: “Any act or investigations by Auditor General, Uganda Revenue Authority and Ministry of Finance, aimed at changing the value of the award from what was granted by the Inter-Ministerial Evaluation Committee are acts of the Attorney General and are hereby prohibited.”
PAC calls for investigations
The interim court order now makes the work of PAC futile in a sense that under the Sub-judice Rule, Section 60, “reference shall not be made to any matter on which judicial decision is pending in such a way as may in the opinion of the Speaker, prejudice the interest of any party to the action.”
PAC chairman Kassiano Wadri had earlier instructed CID to investigate a consent judgment dated October 6, 2010, which an official of court disowned and said was a forgery. Mr Wadri also said another letter from Mr Christopher Gasharabaki of the Justice Ministry exempting Mr Basajjabalaba from paying taxes should be investigated.
Mr Basajjabalaba initially claimed $65 million (Shs182 billion) for loss of business stretching over 11 years. His contracts to manage Nakasero, Shauriyako and St. Balikuddembe (Owino) markets and the Constitution Square were cancelled by order of the President, who Ms Kabatsi says had always objected to Basajjabalaba’s acquisition of City council markets.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
Mr Bagarukayo, considered a chief suspect because he acted as an agent for Aitel in the botched deal, was recently arrested and grilled by CID officials but released. PHOTO JOSEPH KIGGUNDU
By Chris Obore
Posted Sunday, October 2 2011 at 00:00
Legislators on the Local Government and Public Service Committee of parliament are grilling several officials over the botched supply of 70,000 bicycles for village and parish councils. The deal is worth Shs9.9 billion.
Originated by the Local Government Ministry, the first contract agreement signed was in favour of the supplier, Amman Industrial Tools & Equipment Ltd (Aitel). The agreement signed on November 16, 2010, allowed the contractor to access 90 per cent of the funds on presentation of a bill of lading, packing list, commercial invoice, copy of certificate of origin, copy of insurance and pictures of the bicycles.
In a November 25 letter to the permanent secretary in the Local Government Ministry, Mr John Kashaka Muhanguzi, the Solicitor General, cleared the contract writing thus: “This is to advise that the contract has been cleared for signature.” Subsequently, the contract was signed by Mr Muhanguzi on behalf of government and witnessed by Sam Emorut, the assistant commissioner in-charge of policy and planning in the ministry.
But following objections from Accountant General Gustavio Bwoch that the 90 per cent payment before supply was unfair, another contract giving Aitel access to 40 per cent payment, was signed on the same day [November 26, 2010]. This newspaper has copies of both contracts.
On December 17, 2010, Mr Muhanguzi applied to the director of payments and settlements at Bank of Uganda to open a Foreign Letter of credit (LC) in favour of Aitel.
“This is to request you to open a foreign letter of credit in US dollars equivalent to Shs9,999,974,446 (Shs Nine billion nine hundred ninety nine million nine hundred seventy four thousand four hundred forty six only) [sic] less bank charges in favour of M/S Amman Industrial tools & Equipment Ltd,” he wrote, indicating the source of money as Local Government Ministry.
The letter was copied to the AG, Secretary to Treasury and director of banking in BoU.
On December 22, Mr Muhanguzi wrote to the director of banking at BoU: “This is to request you to transfer Shs9,999,974,446 from Ministry of Local Government forex transfer account 000110308000001 to Ministry of Local Government Letter of Credit account 000110318000001 to facilitate opening of a foreign letter of credit in US dollars in favour of M/S Amman Industrial Tools and Equipment Ltd.”
But on December 27, Mr Muhanguzi wrote corrigenda to the LC pointing out errors from himself to BoU. He asked that the bank account be changed from Citibank to Stanbic Bank. He also asked that partial shipment of bicycles be allowed, port of loading was changed to India instead of China, and the consignee changed to Aitel instead of the PS Local Government. Sources say the reason for the change of bank was suspicious and could have been influenced by interest in kick-backs.
On January 3, 2011, the BoU computer system generated correspondence showing the amendments made to the LC as requested by Mr Muhanguzi. But on March 2, the assistant director, Payments and Settlements at BoU, Mr Anthony Musumba, wrote to Mr Muhanguzi raising discrepancy in documents under LC.
Discrepancies upheld
“This is to inform you that we have received documents value USD1.842.000 on approval basis. The following are discrepancies: An original delivery note signed by the authorised agent of the applicant and original acceptance certificate issued by the applicant were all not submitted; the final destination on the bills of lading, packing lists and certificates of origin is Kampala instead of the parishes and village councils in Uganda. The alteration on the certificates of origin is not authentic,” reads the letter.
It adds: “The purpose of this letter is therefore to inform you that the documents are not in strict compliance with LC terms and to seek your guidance on whether payment should be effected despite the above discrepancies.”
Sources said the 40 per cent down payment was $1,719,454 (Shs4.8b) but why it was raised to $1,842,000 was not explained. However, on March 3, Mr Muhanguzi and his principal accountant Henry Bamutura wrote to BoU, saying the final destination is Kampala /Uganda instead of parishes and village councils.
And on the same date, Mr Muhanguzi wrote to AG confirming that the goods and services for which the LC was opened were rendered. He co-signed the letter with Mr Bamutura and Ms Hellen Owechi Jenny on behalf of the head of internal audit in the Local Government Ministry. The letter was to facilitate the writing of an audit clearance by Finance before payment is done.
On March 15, payment of $1.7m was made by BoU to Amman. And on March 25, the Commissioner for Internal Audit in the Finance Ministry kick-started the process of clearance by writing to Mr Muhanguzi asking for a packing list. On April 1, Mr Muhanguzi wrote back attaching a photocopy of the packing list, saying the original was with BoU. And on April 5, he wrote another letter confirming that the goods and services had been rendered.
On the same date, Mr Bwoch and the Internal Audit chief, Dr Fixon Okonye, wrote to the director of banking at BoU, saying: “The Ministry of Local Government has confirmed that goods and services for which a Letter of Credit was opened have now been rendered. My staff in Ministry of Local Government has verified the documents pertaining to the supplies and the Letter of Credit can now be honoured.” However, their authorisation was meaningless as the payment they were clearing was done on March 15.
Speculation is rife over the botched procurement, with some technical people alleging that it was political from inception as the ruling NRM party reportedly needed bicycles to induce local council officials to vote and mobilise other voters for President Museveni’s re-election in February 18. They say when the bicycles delayed, the money was instead channeled through individuals and used to fund the campaigns.
On Wednesday, NRM deputy spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said the party has no connection to the shady procurement. “There should be evidence that the money was paid to the party account either in Bank of Baroda or Standard Chartered bank to any party official,” he said.
Mr Ofwono said the idea to buy bicycles for LCs was proposed in the 2008/9 financial year and that already some LC3 chairperson had been given motorcycles.
cobore@ug.nationmedia.com
Saturday, October 1, 2011
WAS THERE VALUE FOR MONEY FOR SHS 166.998 BN UNDER THE NORTHERN UGANDA SOCIAL ACTION FUND (NUSAF)?
It should be interesting to have a non biased study concerning NUSAF as at 24th November 2008. I get to imagine that the would be beneficiaries of this money would be far away now as regards their welfare if only this money went into tangible things that directly create or are used in the creation of value. For instance in small scale industries for extraction of various agro-based raw materials. In a country known for corruption, one cannot expect value for money from this type of funding apart from benefiting the politicians and some civil servants involved.
According to the report on the performance of NUSAF (Source: 11th Annual Report of the Uganda Human Rights Commission – page 74 – 76), Uganda Government was able to provide funding for 9,340 sub-projects in the conflict affected districts by the end of 2008; with total funding of Uganda shs 166.998 billion disbursed directly to community bank accounts.
Details of beneficiary districts are as per tables below, however, it does not make much sense to see the quantity in numbers of beneficiaries, instead, whether the money improved the welfare of the targeted recipients.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
According to the report on the performance of NUSAF (Source: 11th Annual Report of the Uganda Human Rights Commission – page 74 – 76), Uganda Government was able to provide funding for 9,340 sub-projects in the conflict affected districts by the end of 2008; with total funding of Uganda shs 166.998 billion disbursed directly to community bank accounts.
Details of beneficiary districts are as per tables below, however, it does not make much sense to see the quantity in numbers of beneficiaries, instead, whether the money improved the welfare of the targeted recipients.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
GOOD GOVERNANCE CAN HEAL UGANDA'S HEALTH SECTOR
The solution to healing Uganda's sick health sector is through promotion of Good Governance. The unfortunate thing is that many Ugandans wish to reap where they did not sew. In which case, whenever there is opportunity to corruptly benefit, many who would see Good Governance real just ignore and take advantage. A case in point is the Parliament, if these people can only be patriotic and stop believing is benefiting from bribes ad short term benefits, Uganda as a whole will have a future. So, all in all, before we think of changing the country's top leadership, the way to go is to have people love their country so that they are patriotic and chances that decayed sectors like health are bailed out are many.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
WHO WILL HEAL UGANDA'S SICK HEALTH SECTOR?
By Barbara Among
Posted Saturday, October 1 2011 at 00:00
When his teenage wife went into labour, John Emegu wedged her on a bicycle between himself and his grandmother and pedalled furiously for 11 miles. But on reaching the nearest hospital, his relief quickly turned to despair.
Though healthcare is meant to be free in Uganda, nurses told him to buy a Shs20,000 maternity kit including rubber cloves, saline solution, surgical needle and a plastic ‘delivery’ sheet, which were all out of stock in the hospital. By the time he had done so—and paid another Shs10, 000 to convince an intern doctor to attend to his wife—12 hours had passed. “I don’t know what is happening,” said Emegu, 22, as he waited for news at Soroti regional referral hospital. “I am getting desperate.” His wife and newborn baby survived—unlike his first child who died in the same hospital the year before.
The Emegus’ traumatic experience is not unusual in a country, where the healthcare system is in crisis despite the billions of shillings of mostly donor money flowing in every year. Visits to a dozen health centres across the country revealed a chronic shortage of beds, drugs and medical personnel, confirming a recent verdict by the Anti-Corruption Coalition of Uganda that “service delivery and general care is almost not there”.
The government admits that the situation is dire. “Lack of adequate resources is still limiting hospitals to provide the services expected. In many instances, basic emergency infrastructure, supplies and specilised equipment are inadequate,” reads the latest annual health sector performance report. The dire situation has meant that senior government officials and wealthy Ugandans have long used private hospitals or flown outside the country for treatment, as was the case with some of President Museveni’s daughters, who delivered their children in Germany.
Members of Parliament are registered with private health insurance companies of their choice, paid for by taxpayers. But now even ordinary Ugandans, the intended beneficiaries of the free healthcare system, are increasingly seeking private healthcare. “I don’t see any reason of wasting time; you go to the government hospital yet there are no drugs,” said Joseph Kusemerwa, a resident of Kicucu village, Kabarole District in western Uganda.
So why is it dysfuntional?
Such attitudes are stirring public debate on why the free healthcare system is so dysfunctional. While it is expensive to run, money does not seem to be in short supply. Donors gave more money towards health than any sector of government, amounting to Shs321 billion in 2009/2010.
The government added a further Shs465 billion and this year Shs1.3 trillion went to health. In total, health spending accounts for 9.6 per cent of the budget, significantly higher than the sub-Saharan average of 8 per cent. Local healthcare monitoring groups and government officials say Uganda’s heavy reliance on outside funding is one of the main problems, with a lack of overlap between the government’s priorities and those of donors.
The focus of HIV prevention and treatment is one example. While 1 million Ugandans are estimated to be HIV positive—3.3 per cent of the population—some Shs549 billion went to Aids campaigns in the financial 200/2010, more than half of total healthcare budget. Most of the money came from the US’s Pepfar (President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief) and USAID.
‘Unreliable donor funding
Local players in the sector say the unpredictability of the donor funding makes it difficult to plan and when it comes, there is lots of overhead expenditure and what is spent on actual projects is actually less. “The money, which is off budget, has had issues of accountability, which has resulted in delayed release of other funds. Some such as Gavi have been withheld. If we had an organised system of receiving even off budget funds, we should not be seeing such problems,” said the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Mr Asuman Lukwago.
The effect of the heavy HIV focus is clearly visible; even in rural areas the voluntary counselling and testing centres are usually well-equipped compared to the general health units. In Kabarole District in Western Uganda, Rose Kayesu, 24, was battling malaria at home. The nearest health centre only had one type of malarial drug, and she was allergic to it. Enock Kibite, her husband, said he sometimes spends more than half of his Shs75,000 monthly earning from carpentry on malaria drugs alone.
According to the Director General of Health Services, Dr Ruth Achieng, the bulk of donor support to the health sector (41 per cent) is off budget and a significant proportion (21 per cent) of government expenditure on health mainly goes to emoluments. Sector players also point to poor coordination among health system players and this has led to fragmentation of services. “Actors have immense interest in M & E (data), at the expense of investment in service delivery. Many actors are measuring the same indices,” said Dr Achieng.
District health directors, many of whom did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said it was “unacceptable” to run out of drugs, but also unavoidable. “There’s no money,” a director said. Government’s 2009/2010 health sector report shows that only 35 per cent of health centres do not run out of essential drugs. As of August, reports on the ministry website indicate that stocks available at both the National Medical Stores and Joint Medical Stores are generally below recommended minimum central stock level and health centres also registered low stock levels of essential drugs.
The corruption drawbacks
But corruption is a major problem hampering healthcare delivery. The Auditor General’s 2009 report shows that Shs310m meant for drugs went missing that year. “The end users did not also have knowledge of these (missing money, deliveries either). The missing drugs included ARVs, coartem, condoms and oral rehydration salts,” the AG report said.
In November 2010, the National Drug Authority said more than 100 ghost health centres created by corrupt officials had been receiving medical supplies and equipment. By contrast, many genuine health centres lack even basic equipment. So in places like Awcha, Gulu District, the theatre serves as a ward. At Kiyombya Health Centre, Southern Uganda, mothers in the maternity section are expected to pay for parafine for lamps.
Large sums of money are simply stolen. In 2005, nearly Shs150b from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) and the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria was unaccounted for. “The healthcare system is very sick but the one who is supposed to heal it is very corrupt,” said the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda in its report.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
WHO WILL HEAL UGANDA'S SICK HEALTH SECTOR?
By Barbara Among
Posted Saturday, October 1 2011 at 00:00
When his teenage wife went into labour, John Emegu wedged her on a bicycle between himself and his grandmother and pedalled furiously for 11 miles. But on reaching the nearest hospital, his relief quickly turned to despair.
Though healthcare is meant to be free in Uganda, nurses told him to buy a Shs20,000 maternity kit including rubber cloves, saline solution, surgical needle and a plastic ‘delivery’ sheet, which were all out of stock in the hospital. By the time he had done so—and paid another Shs10, 000 to convince an intern doctor to attend to his wife—12 hours had passed. “I don’t know what is happening,” said Emegu, 22, as he waited for news at Soroti regional referral hospital. “I am getting desperate.” His wife and newborn baby survived—unlike his first child who died in the same hospital the year before.
The Emegus’ traumatic experience is not unusual in a country, where the healthcare system is in crisis despite the billions of shillings of mostly donor money flowing in every year. Visits to a dozen health centres across the country revealed a chronic shortage of beds, drugs and medical personnel, confirming a recent verdict by the Anti-Corruption Coalition of Uganda that “service delivery and general care is almost not there”.
The government admits that the situation is dire. “Lack of adequate resources is still limiting hospitals to provide the services expected. In many instances, basic emergency infrastructure, supplies and specilised equipment are inadequate,” reads the latest annual health sector performance report. The dire situation has meant that senior government officials and wealthy Ugandans have long used private hospitals or flown outside the country for treatment, as was the case with some of President Museveni’s daughters, who delivered their children in Germany.
Members of Parliament are registered with private health insurance companies of their choice, paid for by taxpayers. But now even ordinary Ugandans, the intended beneficiaries of the free healthcare system, are increasingly seeking private healthcare. “I don’t see any reason of wasting time; you go to the government hospital yet there are no drugs,” said Joseph Kusemerwa, a resident of Kicucu village, Kabarole District in western Uganda.
So why is it dysfuntional?
Such attitudes are stirring public debate on why the free healthcare system is so dysfunctional. While it is expensive to run, money does not seem to be in short supply. Donors gave more money towards health than any sector of government, amounting to Shs321 billion in 2009/2010.
The government added a further Shs465 billion and this year Shs1.3 trillion went to health. In total, health spending accounts for 9.6 per cent of the budget, significantly higher than the sub-Saharan average of 8 per cent. Local healthcare monitoring groups and government officials say Uganda’s heavy reliance on outside funding is one of the main problems, with a lack of overlap between the government’s priorities and those of donors.
The focus of HIV prevention and treatment is one example. While 1 million Ugandans are estimated to be HIV positive—3.3 per cent of the population—some Shs549 billion went to Aids campaigns in the financial 200/2010, more than half of total healthcare budget. Most of the money came from the US’s Pepfar (President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief) and USAID.
‘Unreliable donor funding
Local players in the sector say the unpredictability of the donor funding makes it difficult to plan and when it comes, there is lots of overhead expenditure and what is spent on actual projects is actually less. “The money, which is off budget, has had issues of accountability, which has resulted in delayed release of other funds. Some such as Gavi have been withheld. If we had an organised system of receiving even off budget funds, we should not be seeing such problems,” said the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Mr Asuman Lukwago.
The effect of the heavy HIV focus is clearly visible; even in rural areas the voluntary counselling and testing centres are usually well-equipped compared to the general health units. In Kabarole District in Western Uganda, Rose Kayesu, 24, was battling malaria at home. The nearest health centre only had one type of malarial drug, and she was allergic to it. Enock Kibite, her husband, said he sometimes spends more than half of his Shs75,000 monthly earning from carpentry on malaria drugs alone.
According to the Director General of Health Services, Dr Ruth Achieng, the bulk of donor support to the health sector (41 per cent) is off budget and a significant proportion (21 per cent) of government expenditure on health mainly goes to emoluments. Sector players also point to poor coordination among health system players and this has led to fragmentation of services. “Actors have immense interest in M & E (data), at the expense of investment in service delivery. Many actors are measuring the same indices,” said Dr Achieng.
District health directors, many of whom did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said it was “unacceptable” to run out of drugs, but also unavoidable. “There’s no money,” a director said. Government’s 2009/2010 health sector report shows that only 35 per cent of health centres do not run out of essential drugs. As of August, reports on the ministry website indicate that stocks available at both the National Medical Stores and Joint Medical Stores are generally below recommended minimum central stock level and health centres also registered low stock levels of essential drugs.
The corruption drawbacks
But corruption is a major problem hampering healthcare delivery. The Auditor General’s 2009 report shows that Shs310m meant for drugs went missing that year. “The end users did not also have knowledge of these (missing money, deliveries either). The missing drugs included ARVs, coartem, condoms and oral rehydration salts,” the AG report said.
In November 2010, the National Drug Authority said more than 100 ghost health centres created by corrupt officials had been receiving medical supplies and equipment. By contrast, many genuine health centres lack even basic equipment. So in places like Awcha, Gulu District, the theatre serves as a ward. At Kiyombya Health Centre, Southern Uganda, mothers in the maternity section are expected to pay for parafine for lamps.
Large sums of money are simply stolen. In 2005, nearly Shs150b from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) and the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria was unaccounted for. “The healthcare system is very sick but the one who is supposed to heal it is very corrupt,” said the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda in its report.
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