‘Let MPs Inspect Lubowa Hospital’: Speaker Oboth Orders Project Audit

What the report says

Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth has directed Uganda’s Auditor General to audit the International Specialised Hospital of Uganda project in Lubowa and said opposition lawmakers should be allowed to inspect the site, according to Watchdog Uganda. The dispute surfaced in Parliament after Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi complained that MPs had repeatedly been denied access to monitor the government-backed project along the Kampala-Entebbe Highway.

Ssenyonyi said the hospital has already absorbed about Shs1.5 trillion in public funding through parliamentary approvals and argued that lawmakers need a clearer view of how the project is progressing. He also called for an audit, pointing to changes in the hospital design and repeated delays in completion. In his remarks, he said the project had missed several deadlines and remained opaque to oversight institutions.

Oboth said Parliament’s oversight role must be respected and urged that public money be accounted for. The Health Minister, Chris Baryomunsi, told MPs that the contract contains restrictions on site access and said discussions were under way to review those terms. Government Chief Whip Jane Ruth Aceng said construction was nearing 70% completion, training of specialists was ongoing, and equipment procurement had begun.

The episode highlights continuing scrutiny of one of Uganda’s most closely watched health infrastructure projects. More broadly, large public projects in the country often face parliamentary questions about cost, timelines and transparency, especially when they involve repeated funding approvals and limited access for oversight bodies.