As he inspects a shs30.2 billion housing project for Mulago nurses, Minister Ogwang vows government support.

Peter Ogwang, the State Minister for Economic Monitoring, has stated that the government will continue to help medical professionals around the country in order to promote their well-being.

“I’ve chosen the challenges, such as funding, that I’ll include in my report to the president and the full cabinet,” Ogwang added.

“These housing units are part of the NRM promise to provide good housing for health workers, and I am pleased to see the project progressing well.”

He was at Mulago National Referral Hospital on Wednesday assessing the construction work for the shs30.2 billion housing flats for nurses.

As part of his ministry’s role, the minister stated that he will always conduct spot checks on ongoing government initiatives to identify difficulties while also monitoring their implementation.

“In my ministry, I implemented a dashboard to assist me keep track of all government programs. It’s vital to know if they’re on track, but it’s also important to check if the organizations to which we grant money to implement programs use it properly,” he added.

According to the minister, his ministry will be able to identify issues that needed to be addressed by evaluating many government projects.

“We shouldn’t wait for the Auditor General to point out unimplemented programs or money sent to different programs that isn’t being used for its intended purpose. We can identify problems early enough by conducting inspections and doing quarterly assessments of the budget’s performance.”

Dr. Baterana Byarugaba, the Executive Director of Mulago National Referral Hospital, said the government was driven to build the housing units by the necessity to ensure nurses and all health professionals sleep near their jobs.

“The Covid epidemic and its consequences, like as the lockdown, made it difficult for health personnel to get to work. They will be able to stay close to their places of work with these housing units, making it easier for them to report to work,” Baterana said.

He, on the other hand, bemoaned the lack of financing, pointing out that Mulago only paid the contractor 14% rather than 30% as an advance payment, and that the project will be delayed due to a lack of government funding.

“We can only pay sh5 billion every financial year to the contract out of the Shs30.2 billion, and at that rate, we would only be able to finish the money in six years, postponing the project.”

He added that the 150 one-bedroom homes will house 150 nurses as the government seeks further funding to build more units for nearly 4000 health workers.