Medical Interns at the largest hospital in Uganda, Mulago, which is also the teaching hospital to the College of Health Sciences at the Makerere University, the largest and third-oldest institution of higher learning in the country, have gone on strike to protest lack of payment.
According to a report by the Daily Monitor, the Medical interns are unhappy after not receiving their allowance arrears payment for the last three months.
“Although interns in other hospitals received their partial payments for the three months arrears in the first week of March, for us [interns at Mulago] we have not been paid,” Dr Fauz Kavuma, the interns’ president, said.
The Medical interns receive a net monthly payment of 600,000 Ugandan Shillings (166 USD) to cover their accommodation and meals.
Mulago Hospital’s executive director, Dr Baterana Byarugaba was surprised that the students went ahead with the strike after an agreement with the institution that the payment will be cleared soon. Dr. Byarugaba, said that the hospital has received 258 million Ugandan Shillings (71,451 USD) for the students; an amount that has been declared inadequate by the interns’ president.
“Even then, I want to assure you that whether all the interns put down their tools, we shall continue working effectively even better. In fact, it will be affecting their own cycle of study.” Said Mulago Hospital’s executive director, Dr Baterana Byarugaba
However, scenes of stranded patients at different hospitals are common when the interns strike. The interns will only return to work after all the arrears are paid according to their leadership. The strike at Mulago could spread to other health facilities, according to the Daily Monitor, interns at the Entebbe General Hospital are contemplating striking if the ministry does not release their full payment by end of this week.
The latest strike comes six months after a strike in August 2016 when interns in different government hospitals protested against the government’s proposal to scrap their allowance in their one–year attachment.
