Parliament Approves $1 Trillion Budget with Hospital and State House Funds.
KAMPALA, Uganda—Lawmakers have passed a massive spending plan totaling 1.050 trillion Ugandan shillings, or about $285 million.
The budget includes 53.119 billion shillings ($14 million) for a hospital in Lubowa. The government says the hospital will be done by April 2025.
In 2019, parliament let the government borrow $379 million to build the hospital. A private company is constructing it. The hospital will have 264 beds.
The government has already spent more than 476 billion shillings ($129 million) on the project, but work has sometimes stopped.
Some officials were not allowed to visit the hospital site last year, but they wanted to check on the progress.
The Budget Committee of Parliament looked at the spending plan. Most members supported it.
But one member, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, did not agree. He wrote his report.
Ssemujju said giving more money to the hospital could be risky. He is worried Ugandans might lose money.
The government made a special deal in 2018 to pay for the hospital. It involved banks and the Ministry of Health.
Since then, the government has paid a lot of money. It has given the builder 476,467,170,072 shillings ($129 million). That is 35% of the total cost.
Auditors checked the payments in June 2023. They found some problems.
The auditors said the government official overseeing the project could not visit the site often, which made it difficult for them to do their job well.
The auditors also said the payment reports were mostly based on what the builder said, not what was actually built.
Another group of officials could not confirm the work either. The builder would not let them see the site.
"There is a big chance Ugandans could lose money if we give more funds to [Lubowa]," Ssemujju said. "We should stop the project until a special audit is done."
Ssemujju also did not like that the State House was receiving 234.75 billion shillings ($64 million) for secret purposes.
"Some of this money is surely for campaigns," he said. "The rest is for personal use."
He asked other lawmakers not to approve the budget, calling it "messy" and "against the law."
Another official, Joel Ssenyonyi, said parliament should be careful about giving more money to Lubowa.
However, the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, visited the hospital and said the work there is "very impressive."
The Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, agreed. She told parliament the hospital is over 60% done.
Nabbanja said the hospital will open in April 2025. She noted that doctors and nurses are currently training for it in Italy.
"The builder is working very hard," Nabbanja said. "I ask that we provide the money to finish this."
The big budget also includes funds for the Prime Minister's office, the Justice Ministry, a university, and an intelligence agency, among others.
KAMPALA, Uganda—Lawmakers have passed a massive spending plan totaling 1.050 trillion Ugandan shillings, or about $285 million.
The budget includes 53.119 billion shillings ($14 million) for a hospital in Lubowa. The government says the hospital will be done by April 2025.
In 2019, parliament let the government borrow $379 million to build the hospital. A private company is constructing it. The hospital will have 264 beds.
The government has already spent more than 476 billion shillings ($129 million) on the project, but work has sometimes stopped.
Some officials were not allowed to visit the hospital site last year, but they wanted to check on the progress.
The Budget Committee of Parliament looked at the spending plan. Most members supported it.
But one member, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, did not agree. He wrote his report.
Ssemujju said giving more money to the hospital could be risky. He is worried Ugandans might lose money.
The government made a special deal in 2018 to pay for the hospital. It involved banks and the Ministry of Health.
Since then, the government has paid a lot of money. It has given the builder 476,467,170,072 shillings ($129 million). That is 35% of the total cost.
Auditors checked the payments in June 2023. They found some problems.
The auditors said the government official overseeing the project could not visit the site often, which made it difficult for them to do their job well.
The auditors also said the payment reports were mostly based on what the builder said, not what was actually built.
Another group of officials could not confirm the work either. The builder would not let them see the site.
"There is a big chance Ugandans could lose money if we give more funds to [Lubowa]," Ssemujju said. "We should stop the project until a special audit is done."
Ssemujju also did not like that the State House was receiving 234.75 billion shillings ($64 million) for secret purposes.
"Some of this money is surely for campaigns," he said. "The rest is for personal use."
He asked other lawmakers not to approve the budget, calling it "messy" and "against the law."
Another official, Joel Ssenyonyi, said parliament should be careful about giving more money to Lubowa.
However, the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, visited the hospital and said the work there is "very impressive."
The Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, agreed. She told parliament the hospital is over 60% done.
Nabbanja said the hospital will open in April 2025. She noted that doctors and nurses are currently training for it in Italy.
"The builder is working very hard," Nabbanja said. "I ask that we provide the money to finish this."
The big budget also includes funds for the Prime Minister's office, the Justice Ministry, a university, and an intelligence agency, among others.
