Health Centre in toilet crisis | The Razor: Cutting Edge Uganda News, Business and Sports

By Ramu Afema

Koboko – The Health Centre IV is facing an acute sanitation problem after toilet facilities at the in-patient department got filled to the brim, prompting patients to resort to the use of polythene bags. Kizito Jurua, the district health inspector said the three pit latrines at the centre have been full for the last three months, forcing the over 600 patients and their attendants to use staff toilets and another pit latrine at the Out Patients Department (OPD).

STRETCHED: One of the filled pit latrines at the health centre. (PHOTO BY RAMU AFEMA)

Meanwhile, patients have been going without treatment at the centre, after medical workers resorted to industrial action.
Dr. Noah Musa, the Medical Officer in-charge of Koboko Health sub district, attributes the woes to interference and influence-peddling from the District Health Office (DHO).

Citing the case of one Frank Yoyo, a psychiatric nurse who was deployed to the Out Patients Department (OPD), Dr Musa accused the District Health Officer Dr Alfred Driwale of deploying staff without informing him. “Decisions taken by my office on staff deployment or duty allocation are regarded subordinate by the DHO. How can he write a letter on my behalf for me to just sign?” Dr Musa asked.
As a result of these misunderstandings, some staff have refused to accept transfers and to attend to patients.

The stand-off has also affected other health facilities like Gborokolongo and Dricile health centres, and several patients have resorted to seeking treatment from the neighbouring districts of Arua, Maracha and Yumbe. But Dr Driwale attributed the problem to tribalism, saying there is a plot to unseat him because he is not from Koboko. “People are being actually mobilised to demonstrate against me because I am not ‘a son of the soil,” he said.