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Brenda Alezuyo with her 3-month baby and Rukia Lekuru at Kubala trading center on SundayBY RICHARD DRASIMAKU AND GOODLUCK MUSINGUZI
TEREGO: MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2024
When Brenda Alezuyo, a teenage mother went into labour three months ago, she worried about the long distance to Omugo HCIV.
More terrifying was the concern about going to a health unit where her neighbour, one Lillian who was reportedly put through cesarean section late had lost her baby.
Delayed attention due to congestion and few number of medical staff at the health unit were given as reasons for the loss of the baby while the mother came out with damaged uterus.
It was a haunting recollection but still forced by the nagging labour pains, Alezuyo parted with sh10,000 for transport to Omugo Health Center Iv in Terego district.
She found that some clients who had already delivered their babies through cesarean section were lying on the verandah and others were on mats on the floor.
From here, she went under the knife to successfully deliver a bouncing baby boy, but she was hurriedly discharged the following day to continue medication from home.
The discharge officer claimed this was to create space for other arrivals to be admitted at the postnatal ward.
Things went awry for Alezuyo that the wound started discharging pass after just two days, which forced Alezuyo to be taken back to Omugo health center IV.
This was when she encountered more unpalatable experience. Clinical officers were not within the health unit and the nurses refused to touch her saying they have countless times told doctors and clinicians not to discharge people hurriedly but they pay deaf ears.
They told the agonizing Alezuyo to wait for the arrival of a doctor or a clinical officer, something that took her for the rest of the day.
When one eventually arrived at around 7:00pm, she was re-admitted for four days until the wound improved.
Alezuyo says had the construction of Mt Wati Health Center III in Omugo sub county not unnecessarily delayed, she would have just taken the 15-minute walk to the health facility and deliver her baby.
Mount Wati Health Center III is a brand-new health unit that the government started in an area without a previous health center in order to bridge the healthcare gap and decongest Omugo Health Center IV.
But the residents are now anxious for when the construction works will end so that the units can be equipped to serve them.
In 2022, under the Uganda Intergovernmental fiscal transfer program, sh854m contract was awarded to Rhema Engineering Co. LDT, a construction company belonging to a radiologist turned politician, Ronald Debo, to construct a maternity ward, a two-unit staff house and four-stance toilet within a period of one year.
It is now two years down the road and the company has failed to deliver on the project, forcing mothers like Alezuyo to continue suffering for lack of accessible healthcare.
This prompted the brief detention of Santos Ecoku, the company’s site engineer, by the authorities of Terego district who gambled that the arrest would have attracted the company director, Debo, to show up and eventually be arrested.
However, the gamble didn’t work out as the radiologist instead took-off to Kampala and the site engineer was eventually released.
Ecoku cited a litany of challenges including brokenness of Rhema construction company, price fluctuations and late supply of construction materials and lack of payment of workers among others for the dragging on of the project.
After his release, the company supplied paints to coat the outside wall of the buildings to allow them look nice while the inside parts have remained unfinished.
Ecoku said the works are about 88% finished but he is not sure when the remaining 12% will be accomplished.
The additional units of an outpatient department, two toilets for staff and another two-unit staff house which were contracted to Dolphins Consulting Engineers and Contractors ltd in lot-7 has also approached the end of contract period without being finished.
Additionally, Dolphins is supposed to level the compound, establish walkways and fence the health facility as part of a sh814m contract.
Job Drama, the site engineer for Dolphins said that they would ask for an extension of three months in order to complete the works.
Zakia Lekuru, 25, a resident of Kubala village also a neigbour to Mt Wati Health Center III said this health unit would be a big relief to the people and especially mothers by cutting down costs of transport and expenses on feeding associated with distant travel to Omugo health center IV.
Festus Ayikobua, the Terego Resident district commissioner said they will continue to exert pressure on particularly Rhema Construction company to act responsibly and complete its portion of the project so that residents can get the services as planned by the government.
