In a recent meeting with medical workers, Lewis Rubongoya, the Secretary General of the National Unity Platform (NUP), shed light on the challenges faced by healthcare professionals in Uganda under President Museveni’s administration.
Citing a conversation with an anonymous surgeon, Rubongoya highlighted that the current regime’s poor working conditions and unfair compensation have driven many in the medical field to unethical practices or forced them to seek better opportunities abroad.
The surgeon, who works at a government hospital, claimed that due to inadequate pay, many doctors are left with no choice but to engage in alternative means of earning a living. Some opt to leave Uganda in search of greener pastures where their skills and efforts are better compensated. Others, like himself, establish private clinics or hospitals where they can earn more from a single procedure than they do from an entire month’s government salary.
The surgeon admitted that he often works only a limited amount of time at the government hospital, doing ward rounds for about an hour and signing the attendance book before leaving to focus on his private practice.
He expressed deep discomfort with this practice, acknowledging that it is unethical. However, he argued that he is driven to such measures by the need to meet his financial obligations, support his family, and provide quality education for his children.
Rubongoya emphasized that the current situation is a direct result of the government’s failure to provide fair wages and a conducive working environment for healthcare workers.
He called on Ugandans to “open their eyes widely” and take decisive action in the upcoming 2026 elections as a way to “get rid of this nonsense,” signaling a push for political change as a remedy to the systemic issues affecting the nation’s healthcare sector.
