Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi has raised fresh concerns over accountability at the Lubowa Specialized Hospital project after MPs were denied access to the construction site.
Ssenyonyi said he and members of the Shadow Cabinet visited the facility on Wednesday as part of a scheduled parliamentary oversight exercise. However, the legislators were stopped from entering the site despite what he said was a directive from the Ministry of Health allowing them access.
“Despite the Ministry of Health directing the facility to grant us access and facilitate the tour, we were denied access,” Ssenyonyi said.
The opposition leader questioned why elected representatives continue to face difficulties accessing a government-funded project that has received substantial public resources.
According to Ssenyonyi, Sh1.5 trillion in taxpayers’ money has so far been injected into the Lubowa project, yet Parliament has not been given sufficient access to scrutinise how the funds have been spent.
He said the latest incident was not the first time officials had been prevented from inspecting the facility.
“In the previous Parliament, we were still denied access to the facility, and so was the then Minister of Health,” Ssenyonyi said, suggesting that concerns over access to the project have persisted across different parliamentary terms.
The Lubowa Specialized Hospital project has attracted significant public interest because of the scale of government financing involved and its intended role in expanding specialised healthcare services in Uganda.
Ssenyonyi said the government should demonstrate its commitment to fighting corruption by ensuring that large public projects are subjected to effective oversight and financial scrutiny.
“If Government is serious about the fight against corruption as we hear them say, they shouldn’t only go for those misappropriating small amounts,” he said.
The MP called for greater scrutiny of individuals responsible for accounting for large sums of public money, arguing that anti-corruption efforts should extend to projects involving billions and trillions of shillings.
“We want to see them also go after those who are failing to account for trillions of shillings,” Ssenyonyi added.