Joshua Okello, a resident of Campswahili Ward, Cell A5, Soroti City East, has threatened to sue the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Minister of Health-Dr. Jane Ruth Acheng, Soroti Referral Hospital, the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Health-Dr. Diana Atwine and the Attorney General of Uganda, over the breakdown of an oxygen machine, which he said, got a critical malfunction rendering it defective thus leading to the death of 15 patients.

Okello said that his action is in line with the Constitution of Uganda 1995 as amended, which states that, any person or organization may bring an action against the violation of another person’s or group’s human rights.

“Reference is made to the above subject matter where I act as an aggrieved Ugandan citizen under article 50(1) and (2) of Uganda 1995 constitution and I address you as my concern,” Okello said.

In a letter written by Okello on September 20, 2023, addressed to MoH and its officials, which was received by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs-Soroti Regional office, he noted down a number of issues he needs to be addressed.

He noted that, it is well within their knowledge that on September 11, 2023, at Soroti Referral Main Hospital, 15 patients died due to a breakdown of the oxygen machine which suffered a critical malfunction which rendered it defective.

“A quiet and resilient battle unfolds in the children’s ward every day, as patients find themselves in an unusual circumstances, navigating the challenges of congestion with darkness, bed bags and unwavering spirit of endurance,” Okello said.

Okello further stated that, the purpose of the letter was to communicate to the MoH and its officials to improve on the lighting system of the wards in question and to compensate the families of those who lost their loved ones as a result of negligence, carelessness, and reckless attitude of the staff.

“If the public and I do not hear from you within a period of seven days, I will proceed to institute legal proceedings without further communication,” Okello noted.

However, in a phone interview with our reporter, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Spokesperson for Ministry of Health, said that, it is not true, adding that, those are just allegations and should be treated as such.

The Ministry of Health in 2021, received a complete set of one thousand oxygen cylinders worth US$ 233,000 procured by the World Health Organization (WHO) with financial support from the Government of Denmark for the management of critical cases in Uganda.