Masaka Hospital Chokes On Extortion As Seven Workers Interdicted

Masaka Regional Referral Hospital Gate/Courtesy photo
Masaka Regional Referral Hospital has recorded high rates of extortion and corruption, with seven workers interdicted in four years over the vice.
Dr. James Elima, the Executive Director of Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, says for the 17years he worked at Moroto Hospital, he never encountered extortion like the one at Masaka Hospital. He says since joining the hospital around 2022, seven workers have been interdicted over extortion.
He made the admission while appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on 19th March 2026, where he had led officials from Masaka Regional Referral Hospitals to respond to queries raised in the 2024/25 Auditor General’s reports, after some MPs raised concerns about the high prevalence of extortion that patients that seek for care encounter at the hands of staff from the Hospital.
Gorreth Namugga (Mawogola South) acknowledged the high cases of corruption at Masaka Hospital, describing the facility as unique, but she went on to wish Dr. Elima luck in fighting corruption.
The Management of Masaka Hospital assured the Committee that there is zero tolerance to extortion in the hospital, mostly in the maternity department and there has been the rewards and sanctions committee established in Masaka Hospital, and the Hospital also has suggestion boxes where they can report the extortion, and these have been further boosted by the installation of CCTV and numbers where patients and caretakers can report cases of extortion.
Namugga also decried the deplorable conditions new mothers with babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit endure as they wait for their infants as there is one tent that acts as shelter for these mothers because of the limited space at the NICU.
Dr Aloysius Kagogwe, an Obstetrician & Gynecologist, at Masaka Hospital explained that the tent was improvised as a stay area for mothers with infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit due to shortage of space.
He explained, “You know in NICU or in a little ICU, there is no space provided for mothers to, the space provided for mothers to stay and probably watch over their babies is not enough. So, that is where they go prepare whatever they have to eat. That is where they keep some of their things. We are counting on the hopes for the new building. Probably that will be solved.”
However, Susan Amero (Amuria Woman MP) sought clarification on whether the Maternal and Childcare building being constructed has a provision for these mothers.
Dr. Elima explained that new building was designed to cater for what is in the old NICU.
Namugga told the Committee that when she had her preterm son at Masaka Hospital, she was advised to go back home and handle the baby from home due to the poor conditions noting, “But you know what it means to handle a preterm baby from home? Even in our old structure, the Kangaroo provision has been improvised basically. So, it is there.”