This year alone, Gen. Tumwine (Kenya), Gen. Pecos Kutesa (India), Prof. Mutebire (Kenya) and Rt. Hon. Oulanyah (USA) are some prominent Ugandans who have died abroad, seeking better healthcare.
Think about this and what happens to millions of Ugandans who cannot even afford an air ticket, let alone treatment abroad.
In one of his #COVID19 speeches, Gen. Museveni said the whole country had only 218 ICU beds. Yes, 218!
We have an acute shortage of healthcare professionals, and an abundance of military, police, intelligence and other security personnel of all names.
We have no oxygen in hospitals, but we never run out of teargas and pink water to be sprayed on citizens who are fighting for better.
We have no ambulances, but we have brand new military, police vehicles, and those mambas which roam our streets everytime the system smells trouble from those demanding for better governance.
Instead of building modern hospitals, they are busy building modern prisons.
We have fighter jets which come out on ceremonies every five years, but we probably have no single air ambulance! If it is there, it’s a reserve of the few privileged!
Instead of paying health workers better, the regime would rather pay off artistes to sing it praises and buy off political opponents to cross over in ridiculous fashion.
They never boast of the big numbers of patients that can be accommodated in hospitals, but they speak in praise of their capacity to imprison thousands of citizens at any given time!
We must think more about this animal called the COMMON GOOD!
When you go to Aga Khan and many other hospitals abroad, you’ll probably be attended to by a Ugandan trained doctor. They simply left because of poor working conditions, the absence of equipment, and the lack of opportunities for growth. You can’t ignore the common good for good.
It may sound cliche, but the saying has come true before our very eyes: No one is safe until all of us are safe. No one is free, until all of us are free.
Author : David Lewis Rubongoya
