Swagia Shadia Nabunya, the Officer in charge Mbale Central Police Station told the students they couldn’t allow them to proceed with the protest, saying they didn’t inform them as required by the Public Order Management Act-POMA.
Police have foiled a demonstration by Busitema
University students in Mbale town protesting the new policy by the Health
Ministry on the rotation of intern doctors.
A team of police officers intercepted the
students as they marched from their campus at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital
to the Resident District Commissioner’s-RDC office this morning.
However, the students claimed that association of medical
students had notified the Inspector General of
Police but they didn’t find the Mbale District Police Commander when they
delivered their letter to his office.
Swagia Shadia Nabunya, the Officer in charge
Mbale Central Police Station told the students they couldn’t allow them to
proceed with the protest, saying they didn’t inform them as required by the Public
Order Management Act-POMA.
//Cue in: “We are not informed…
Cue out: …letter”//
John Robert Tukei, the Elgon Region Police Spokesperson,
says although the students have a genuine cause to protest, they didn’t follow
the due process.
He advised the students
to go back and follow the process and police will allow them to continue with
their demonstration.
//Cue in: “This team here
Cue
out: …we shall settle”//
Medical students
across the country are up in up arms against the ministry protesting to low
allowances, lack of accommodation and the new rotation policy of intern
doctors.
Recently, the
ministry announced that intern doctors will only attain
skills in two disciplines and opposed to four in the past.
The interns were
supposed to do 4 disciplines for three months each to gain practical skills in
the fields of surgery, obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics.
The ministry however changed the policy to 2 major
disciplines and 2 minors.
Adili Wajalisi, a Fifth year medical student says intern
doctors work under very deplorable conditions but earn very meager allowances.
//Cue in: “We as interns
Cue out: …not taxed”//
Abbey Bukenya, a fourth year medical student, says they
decided to demonstrate to compel the Health Ministry to reinstate the previous
rotation policy and push for improved allowances.
//Cue in: “Our reasons for…
Cue out: …district”//
Professor Julius Wandawa, the Dean of Faculty of Health
Sciences Busitema University declined to comment, saying the student demo was out
of their jurisdiction.
“That is
out of our Jurisdiction as a university and I don’t know anything about the
demonstration bye bye,” he told our reporter and hang up his phone.
Emmanuel Ayinebyona, the Health Ministry Spokesperson told Uganda
Radio Network that the ministry is aware of the grievances of medical interns.
He however, said the ministry can’t increase the allowances of the interns
because they only pay them what is provided by the Finance ministry.
He says the ministry intends to issue a statement on the
concerns of the intern doctors.
AYUBU KIRINYA
Freelancer