Humanist

I am not being insensitive, but my first reaction when I saw the Ministry of Health post on X about the visit of Speaker Among with ailing Hon. Cosmos Elotu, Member of Parliament (MP) representing Dakabela, was where is Dakabela? And then, who is Hon. Cosmos Elotu?

So, I went on a Google search and the results are:

Dakabela was curved out of Soroti in 2015 and consists of the three sub-counties of Arapai, Tubur and Katine in Teso in North-Eastern Uganda. Turns out, I have been to all the three sub-counties doing door to door research in the villages.

Unless things have changed from the time I did research there in 2011-2012, the standards of living of the people of Dakabela are likely among the lowest not only in Teso, but also countrywide. Case in point:

“Katine is prone to droughts and floods, which can destroy harvests. With limited district public services, people continue to live close to the poverty line.”

The Guardian

Hon. Elotu Cosmas is a former actor in the NGO sector and has also prior worked for United Nations World Food Programme, before he became a politician. According to TesoVibez he is among MPs from Teso who are mute in Parliament.

He was the National Resistance Movement flag bearer and he had a narrow victory in the 2021 elections garnering 13,840 votes (50.9%) and beating two other candidates – an independent; and the Forum for Democratic Change flag bearer.

While I applaud Mulago National Referral Hospital and Ministry of Health for, according to the Speaker, doing a good job in providing care for patients including Hon. Elotu, I cannot but help wonder what is the state of healthcare services in Dakabela? Well:

“Tiriri health centre IV, located just outside Tiriri trading centre in Katine, is the main facility for seven sub-counties, which make up Soroti county (three of which now make up Dakabela). A health centre IV is a mini hospital. It should have the kind of services found at health centre III, but it should have wards for men, women, and children and should be able to admit patients.

It should have a senior medical officer and another doctor as well as a theatre for carrying out emergency operations. Although Tiriri health centre has 34 beds, and sees up to 100 out-patients a day, it has no doctor. It is run by two clinical officers. It has a theatre that does not work because of lack of water, power and other smaller installations.”

Richard Kavuma, 2009 in “Uganda’s healthcare system explained,” published in The Guardian

It would appear that the situation at Tiriri Health Centre has improved since then, and there is now a doctor in charge. However, there is apprently still significantly more that needs to be done in order to bring the centre to the expected acceptable standard. As recent as 2022, Mama Bukedea reported “Health workers struggle to operate in a small ward in Tiriri Health Centre.”

This has me thinking and appreciating debates that we have had in the past with colleagues on the question of moral leadership. How great it would be for each of our elected members of parliament to resolve and ensure that there is one health facility in the constituency in which they represent that they feel comfortable being treated in when they are ill.

The tradition of our leaders going to seek healthcare services elsewhere, as is the case with Hon. Elotu, at huge costs and many times costs borne by us the tax payers is immoral. Worse more, we the tax payers are not getting value for money in terms of provision of public social services – as exemplified for the residents of Tiriri.

It is immoral that public social services provision is not the priority of our elected officials during their term of office. How do we break this cycle?

Profiled photo @ Ministry of Health on X