Speaker of Parliament Calls for another High Level Meeting over Medical Interns’ Strike

Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Anitah Annet Among has called for another a high-level meeting with government and Opposition to discuss the pending industrial strike by medical workers over the non-deployment of medical interns, before the upcoming strike plunges Uganda into another crisis.

“We will have a stakeholder engagement between Office of the Prime Minister OPM, Ministry of Health and Leader of Opposition. Let us get a solution, you know at times you can’t give what you don’t have, let us discuss and get a solution because at the end of the day, we will have to pay. Maybe we can say maybe we reduce it (allowances) from Shs2.5M to Shs1M so that we are able to accommodate everybody," Speaker Among said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of pre-medical interns recently staged a protest at the offices of the Ministry of Health, demanding to be deployed. The interns expressed frustration, accusing the ministry officials of withholding their careers and holding them hostage. The Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Acen, had previously stated that the ministry requires approximately Shs 80.4 billion to enable the deployment of the interns.