Striking doctors have refused to vacate government housing units as ordered by Ministry of Health, noting that they will not succumb to intimidation.
This follows fresh orders from the Ministry of Health in which Government revealed plans to embark on a recruitment exercise to hire new doctors who can work under the current terms and conditions.
Addressing the press at Parliament on Thursday, doctors under their umbrella body, Uganda Medical Association (UMA) said at thrown out of their housing units on allegations of absconding from duty given that the medics are still attending to emergencies.
Samuel Oledo, the Chairperson Welfare at UMA said: “I am just rubbishing that because our doctors who are employed by Government have been doing their work. So protocol of service procedures is that you must have absconded from duty. They haven’t absconded from duty, they are working on Ugandans.”
He added: “So on what basis are you telling the doctors to hand over the facilities yet they are doing their work? It doesn’t make sense. These are threats, which actually as doctors, we aren’t going to succumb to them because we have a legal team which is to address these letters.”
The doctors are not happy with Health Minister, Jane Ruth Aceng, noting that she is using an iron fist through threats instead of listening to their concerns.
The group had been summoned by the Parliament Government Assurance Committee to discuss matters surrounding the doctors’ strike that started last week.
During the meeting at Parliament, Latiff Ssebaggala, the Kawempe North MP and Patrick Kasumba, the Bujenje County MP asked the medical doctors to continue with their defiant approach, saying it is the only way to pressurize Government to meet their demands.
T doctors are expected to meet President Yoweri Museveni after the meeting between top government officials and the doctors yielded nothing.
