Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament referred to President Museveni’s 12th July, 2021 letter to the Health Services Commission, Chairman Pius Okong in which he directed regularization of employment of all personnel who volunteered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thomas
Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament has directed the Minister of Health
to explain to the House why contracts of health workers under the Covid-19
emergency services category were terminated contrary to a presidential
directive.
In his
communication to the Thursday plenary sitting, Tayebwa required Dr. Jane Ruth
Aceng to present the statement on Wednesday next week.
President
Yoweri Museveni directed that all medical workers who were hired to provide
services following the outbreak of Covid-19 should be absorbed into the
government health facilities.
Tayebwa
referred to President Museveni’s 12th July, 2021 letter to the Health
Services Commission, Chairman Pius Okong in which he directed regularization of
employment of all personnel who volunteered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Deputy
Speaker also cited the 10th November, 2021 letter authored by Pius
Okong to all public hospitals indicating that the Commission was going to have
a validation exercise of all Covid-19 emergency workers ahead of the regularization
process.
Tayebwa
said that these were accordingly regularized, started working and even some
acquired loans.
He questioned
why the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary overlooked the presidential
directive and went ahead to terminate contracts of the medical personnel in a
letter dated 18th March, 2022. The letter targeted non-gratuitable
contract workers under the emergency response to Covid-19.
Tayebwa
said that the act was not a good way of rewarding Ugandans who risked their
lives to fight Covid-19.
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health centres.”//
Solomon
Silwany, the Bukooli Central MP wondered why parliament does not instead have
the medical personnel whose contracts were terminated, reinstated.
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to submit.”//
However,
Tayebwa said that the termination of contracts had already happened and
directed that the Minister’s statement should offer solutions.
