Over the last 35 years of the NRM rule, the government has made some interesting promises to the citizens of Uganda, the latest one being that they are working to secure our future. We can only try to predict the future by studying the patterns of the past and while to a smaller extent, some promises have been fulfilled, it is safe to say that the majority of Ugandans expect very little from the NRM’s 2021 general elections’ campaign slogan.

One of the major problems is with the way the government has failed to set proper priorities with the taxpayers’ money in the move to secure this blurred alien future. On Tuesday 6th April 2021, NTV Uganda ran a feature on Soroti hospital. This institution that has, in the past few weeks, been the talk of Social media after the incredible operation that saw health workers separate siamese twins seems to be a non-priority for the government. This operation was vital and had to be rushed considering that one of the twins had died while still attached to the other.

A screenshot of Dr Joseph Epodoi from an interview he had with NTV Uganda at Soroti Hospital.

Dr Joseph Epodoi is the capeless hero who took up the task after Mulago National Referral hospital turned desperate parents away. Dr Epodoi and team executed the intricate task “blind”. They lacked the necessary hospital equipment and worked in a very small operating theater.

“This was a child with a lot of metabolic derangements and within our means, we could not investigate all this. But we had to do the basics,” Dr Epodoi told NTV’s Walter Mwesigye. “You have to know what belongs to who and who takes what in this operation.”

Watch: Soroti Hospital in sorry state

Soroti hospital has to deal with, among others, old structures, failing equipment and insufficient staff especially those with the skills to handle such a complex operation like separating conjoined twins. The realisation that the hospital morgue can only accomodate 2 bodies is more chilling than the fridge in it that has not been working for 2 months.

This hospital is one of many suffering the consequences of the government’s lack of proper priorities. Many health centres lack basics like beds, medicine and staff. The children’s hospital in Jinja has had to run campaigns for people to contribute towards its development.

We can all console ourselves with the fact that at least the people we all love and voted into the next parliament will soon get UGX 300 Million to buy cars that they can use to run away from their constituencies. I guess the ones that cost UGX 150 Million each for the members of the current parliament were a bit too bumpy on Kampala’s flawless roads.

Watch: MPs to get UGX 300 Million each for cars

The exorbitant cost of public administration weighs heavily on taxpayers. Some may argue that it is a disadvantage to service delivery which happens to be the reason as to why more and more administrative units are being created. I mean...if you spend all the money operating these units, there’ll be none to fund health centres, schools and other services. The Ministry of Finance can not make it any more clearer that the country lacks the resources to operationalise new administrative units that the local government keeps dreaming up.

So, why do we keep making new ones? The general theory among citizens is that these administrative units are being put up to grant some privileged individuals jobs and strengthen the NRM’s rule. Political patronage.

Administrative units aside, the duplicate roles rub salt in the unhealing wound of the Pearl. Almost every Ministry has a desk at the statehouse with a presidential assistant doing exactly what that Ministry does. It is impossible to ignore the various government organisations many of which are as a result of political patronage. NAADS has Operation wealth Creation doing its work, the National Forests Authority could be a department under NEMA, Uganda Investment Authority and Uganda Free trade zones Authority could be merged and many more. Misplaced priorities.

Surgeons at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital conduct an operation on conjoined twins on Friday. PHOTO/ GEORGE MURON

Why? Beats my understanding...sort of. I may have a personal opinion on why this is but that is not important. What is, is the fact that wastage of funds is being practiced with total disregard of the people who pay the taxes and are benefitting little from it.

I would like to believe that many Ugandans have no problem with paying taxes. It is for the prosperity of a nation. The problem is with how the taxes are misused that gets them frustrated. What should a middle income earner say when the President is busy giving handouts of UGX 1 Billion to each of the families of former presidents while a health team rushes out of a government hospital to buy drugs for a vital surgery?

Joseph Tumwesigye is NTV Uganda's and Spark TV's online Editor.