President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has this afternoon attacked medical doctors over what he described as indiscipline.
Speaking while presiding over national celebrations to commemorate Labour Day in Sembabule District on Tuesday, Museveni warned doctors against going on strike anyhow citing that it’s the highest form of abuse of office and inhumanness.
Museveni noted that doctors striking over low pay narrowly forced him to go the bush since the act done is son intolerable.
“A doctor who goes on a strike is not a doctor. He is an enemy of the people. How can you go on strike and leave people to die in hospitals? In fact I wanted to go back to the bush” Museveni said.
In the same plea president said that this is the very reason he okayed the importation of Cuban doctors since Ugandan doctors seem not to care about their duty.
“I do not want to hear that non sense. We freedom fighters have been working in Uganda for the last over 50 years, either for low pay or no pay. But I am here, Am I not the president of Uganda regardless of the fact that I earn less salary? We shall bring Cuban Doctors.” he said
On Monday, the Ministry of Health said its ready to receive Cuban doctors once Cabinet approves a decision to bring them into the country to support the health sector.
Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health Diana Atwine revealed that no decision has been made yet in relation to Cuban doctors as their planned role is yet to be discussed in Cabinet. She said reports that the Cuban doctors were already in the country were false.
She however confirmed two ministers were in a delegation that recently traveled to Havana to find out the possibility of recruiting Cuban health experts. The delegation’s report is yet to be tabled.
Dr Atwine said the genesis of the visit to Cuba by a Ugandan delegation was the doctors strike last year, where one of the complaints was the interns did not have enough supervisors. It was at that point, she said, that President Yoweri Museveni suggested more experts be brought in from abroad to fill the gap.
