The Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among, has questioned the Leader of Government Business, Lukia Nakadama, about why the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, and members of the Shadow Cabinet were blocked from accessing the Lubowa specialised hospital construction site.

Speaking during the plenary session on February 27, 2024, the Speaker described the blockage as unfortunate and wondered if the Executive expects Parliament to appropriate funds without carrying out oversight to determine value for money.

“Yesterday, the Leader of Opposition led a team to one of the institutions that we have given money to, which is Lubowa Hospital. To my surprise, I was told, which I am yet to confirm, that the team was denied access to see what is happening and where our money has gone, and I think that is really unfortunate because we are doing what we are mandated to do as per the Constitution; we are doing our oversight role,“ Among said.

“So, I think, as the government, you need to guide us. Should we just sit here and appropriate money without seeing what is being done and call it a day? Remember, this is taxpayer’s money,” she added.

LOP, while speaking to journalists on Monday, February 26, 2024, said that they were denied access to the international specialised hospital project by the police, regardless of his presenting the permission letter from the Ministry of Health.

“Lubowa International Specialised Hospital construction site remains a no-go zone after Members of Parliament were once again stopped from accessing the highly guarded surveillance site that remains under the watch of CCTV cameras,” Ssenyonyi said.

He further said that they believe there is no progress at the site; that’s the reason for their being denied access.

“Why else would they deny Members of Parliament who oversee the budget for the hospital? Billions of shillings have been allocated to this project after being deceived as a country by a so-called investor named Enrica Pinetti. When we arrived at the site, initially, we couldn’t see any activity inside. Suddenly, we heard people pretending to work because they knew nothing was happening,” Ssenyonyi noted.

According to the Speaker and LOP, it is in line with their mandate to keep the government in check. However, the latter was stopped by military guards from accessing the premises.

Ssenyonyi told Parliament that the Lubowa Hospital Project is a scam and therefore called for the allocated funds to be disbursed to other referral and health centres in different parts of the country.

“Let’s halt paying any more money to Lubowa Hospital because they are not accountable; instead, let the money be allocated to referral hospitals like Mulago and Health Centre IVs in different parts of the country that have drug shortages and lack medical equipment,“ Ssenyonyi noted.

Much as in April 2022, the foundation-level work was reported to be complete, the Lubowa International Specialised Hospital project faced delays and challenges, and it is presumed that the main contractor, Enrica Pinetti, had not made significant progress beyond that point.

Reports show that the government allocated over Shs 667 billion ($180 million USD) for the project, which was initially expected to be finished within two years. However, as of March 2023, the project was described as incomplete, and the Ministry of Health was seen seeking an additional Shs 2.7 billion to supervise the works.