Buganda Road Court Grants Eight Medical Interns Cash Bail of Shs200,000 Each

What the report says

Buganda Road Court has granted cash bail to eight medical interns, setting each bond at Shs200,000 after they spent three days in Luzira Prison. The group had been arrested during protests linked to the deployment of the 2026/27 internship cohort and the withdrawal of financial support for the mandatory training programme, according to Nile Post.

The interns appeared before court on Monday for a bail hearing. Their lawyers presented sureties and asked for their release, while the State Counsel objected on the ground that the proposed sureties were fellow interns and, in the prosecution’s view, did not have a close enough relationship to the accused. Defence lawyers argued that the law does not require sureties to be relatives. Court briefly paused the hearing to allow the defence to upload supporting documents before proceedings resumed.

After hearing both sides, the court allowed bail and ordered the eight to pay Shs200,000 each. The case will continue, with the wider dispute between medical interns and the Ministry of Health still unresolved.

Nile Post reported that the disagreement centres on deployment, welfare and financial facilitation for interns. The government has said eligible interns were assigned to accredited health facilities and should report, while the interns and their representatives have insisted that their concerns must be addressed first. The Uganda Medical Association has also backed the interns and warned of possible industrial action if the stand-off is not settled.