According to Dr Francis Odeke, the District Health Officer, the outpatient department of Serere Health Centre IV receives up to 200 patients daily. He says that the district meets all the required standards for a hospital but the Ministry of Health is reluctant to consider their request.
According to Okiswa, the most reliable means of transport has been Boda-bodas, which he notes only operate with permission from his office to handle emergencies.
The facility located in Kadungulu Sub County was constructed between 2009 and 2013 at 2.7 billion shillings. However, it has not been in use after the district declined to receive it from the contractor citing shoddy works. `
Serere district was given 20 slots for recruitment of teachers but the District Service Commission recruited 55, in addition to staff in other departments. This left the district with a wage shortfall of more than 664 million Shillings.
“The Chairperson has now threatened to resign with immediate effect, if the CAO is not transferred with immediate effect. The purpose of this communication therefore, is to inform you of the conflict between the Chairperson LCV and the CAO”, the RDC’s letter concludes.
Christine Apolot, the district chairperson of Kumi observes that DPAC work is being frustrated by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament which she notes, sometimes disregards recommendations from DPACs or sideline them in their work. She wants DPACs re- empowered and their roles respected by other bodies in accountability sector.
Patrick Ejiku, the district disaster risk management committee chairperson of Serere says that a total of 4, 950 households have been affected by water across the district. He says that at least each of the eight sub-counties in the district is affected by floods especially in low lying areas like swamps.
Gabriel Richards Atama, the Serere Chief Administrative Officer, says the staff were recruited beyond the budget allocations. He says the anomaly arose during the reign of his predecessor, Issa Mbooga
Steven Ochola, Omeda’s nephew who is also former MP for Serere County says Omeda has been sick for a while. He says Omeda’s condition deteriorated last year after undergoing heart surgery and other health complications including mild stroke that put him down for months.
