MPs again denied access to Lubowa hospital site

The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Joel Ssenyonyi, and several members of the shadow cabinet were on Wednesday denied access to the construction site of the International Specialised Hospital of Uganda (ISHU) in Lubowa, despite a written directive from Health minister Chris Baryomunsi authorising their visit.

The legislators had been scheduled for a guided oversight tour of the project at 10 am after Ssenyonyi formally notified Finasi-ISHU Construction SPV Limited on September 9 of their intention to inspect the site.

The contractor’s Group chief operating officer, Charles Byaruhanga, subsequently sought guidance from the ministry of Health on whether the visit should proceed. In a response dated September 10, Baryomunsi directed the contractor to facilitate the MPs’ visit, while requiring them to comply with health and safety guidelines.

But when Ssenyonyi and the legislators arrived at the site on Wednesday, the main gate remained locked. Security personnel inside the premises reportedly made several telephone calls but did not grant the MPs clearance to enter.

Ssenyonyi said he contacted Baryomunsi and state minister for Health Charles Ayume after the refusal, but the ministers’ guidance did not result in access to the site.

The opposition leader questioned how parliament could effectively scrutinise a project financed with public funds when legislators are repeatedly denied independent access to assess the progress of construction.

The incident has renewed a long-running dispute over access to the Lubowa project, one of Uganda’s largest and most closely scrutinised health infrastructure developments.

Previous access disputes

In February 2024, Ssenyonyi and other legislators were similarly blocked from entering the site despite clearance from then Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng.

Security personnel reportedly demanded additional authorisation from the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Other parliamentary attempts to inspect the project have also encountered difficulties. A planned visit by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee in 2024 was postponed over concerns about the availability of safety equipment at the construction site.

The repeated access problems have attracted particular scrutiny because of the scale of public financing committed to the project and questions over its progress.

Cost and delays

The 264-bed hospital is being developed under a public-private partnership involving Italian-led consortium Finasi and local construction firm ROKO Construction.

Parliament approved government guarantees and financing of about $379.7 million, equivalent to roughly Shs 1.4 trillion at the time.

Construction officially began in 2019 following earlier agreements, with the original contractual completion date set for June 2021. The completion timeline has since been revised several times.

Official estimates of physical progress have also varied. Then Health minister Aceng put physical progress at about 70 per cent in April 2026, while the June 2026 Budget Speech reported progress at 75 per cent and moved the expected completion date to December 2027.

Ssenyonyi and other opposition legislators have, however, cited public financial commitments approaching or exceeding Shs 1.5 trillion. The project has consequently remained under scrutiny by Parliament and the Auditor General.

In its report for the financial year ended June 30, 2024, the Auditor General noted that parliament had recommended against continued funding because of limited progress and difficulties experienced by oversight committees in accessing the site.

Despite the recommendation, the ministry of Finance continued making payments. The audit further reported that Shs 286 billion had been paid on the basis of milestone completion certificates that were not adequately supported and were largely based on contractor reports.

The owner’s engineer, according to the audit, had also experienced restricted access to the site. At one stage, government engineers had certified only 23 per cent of the works despite substantially higher disbursements being made through promissory notes.

The Public Accounts Committee subsequently called for a halt to further funding pending a special audit and recommended that individuals responsible for any financial losses be held accountable.

Oversight questions

The continuing dispute over access has raised broader questions about parliament’s ability to exercise its constitutional oversight role over major publicly funded projects.

Article 90 of the Constitution provides for parliament to establish committees and perform functions including monitoring government expenditure and the implementation of government programmes and projects. Article 164 further reinforces parliament’s responsibility to monitor public expenditure.

The Access to Information Act, 2005, gives effect to the constitutional right to access information held by public bodies, while the Public Private Partnerships Act, 2015, provides for the monitoring and evaluation of PPP projects from inception through implementation and post-completion.

Against this legal and institutional framework, the repeated difficulties in accessing the Lubowa project have become a major point of contention between parliament, government agencies and the project partners.

The hospital was conceived as a specialised referral facility offering advanced services including cancer treatment, organ transplantation, cardiac care and specialised diagnostics.

Its intended role is to reduce the number and cost of Ugandans travelling abroad for specialised medical treatment.

But years after construction began, the facility is yet to become operational, as existing public health facilities, including Mulago National Referral Hospital and regional referral hospitals, continue to face pressure from high patient numbers, infrastructure constraints and other resource challenges.

Opposition legislators have previously argued that additional funding for Lubowa should instead be directed towards strengthening existing public health facilities.

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