Minister Ayume defends Shs 139bn French loan for Mbarara cancer centre

What the report says

Uganda’s State minister for Primary Health Care, Charles Ayume, has defended a government plan to borrow Shs 139 billion from France to build and equip the Uganda Cancer Institute’s planned regional oncology centre in Mbarara. He made the case while appearing before Parliament’s health committee, saying the project is meant to expand cancer services outside Kampala and ease pressure on the Uganda Cancer Institute in the capital.

Ayume said the Mbarara facility is part of a wider plan for four regional centres and would begin with core services such as screening, chemotherapy and surgery. He argued that decentralising care would reduce travel and accommodation costs for patients and caretakers from distant districts, and could improve early diagnosis and reduce preventable deaths. The loan request was first presented to Parliament by Finance minister Henry Musasizi on September 29, 2026, according to the report.

The minister also said the centre could eventually support medical tourism and later advanced treatment, including proton therapy. However, Uganda Cancer Institute executive director Dr Jackson Orem said radiotherapy will not be available at the Mbarara centre at the start because of funding limits, so some patients will still be referred to Kampala. Mbarara University of Science and Technology has set aside 8.5 acres for the project and is finalising an agreement with UCI.

Committee members raised funding concerns, including whether the government’s Shs 16 billion counterpart contribution is in the budget, while one MP called for a special fund to help pay for expensive cancer medicines.