Questions as URA Employees Get More Money for Medicine than Mulago Hospital

As Mulago National Referral Hospital’s complains about an insufficient budget to purchase drugs for hundreds of thousands of patients, it has emerged that Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) spends more money on medicine for its staff than the country’s main health facility.

Only Shs17.75bn has been allocated to Mulago National Referral Hospital for the purchase of specialised medical supplies to treat Ugandans in the 12 months of the 2025-2026 financial year.

This allocation is less than the allocation of Shs18.2bn for the purchase of medicines for URA staff in the same period.

When URA officials appeared before Parliament URA, there were complaints over this money for the URA staff medicines. The tax collector also has a budget for medical insurance for the same staff.

“When you look at each department, they have an allocation of medical expenses for employees and specifically medicines and assorted items. Do we have in-house clinics or this is also part of insurance?” asked Enos Asiimwe, the MP for Kabula County.

“… you can see insurance services budgeted at Shs18.2 billion. So, I was seeking clarification whether medical insurance is not part of the first budget of Shs18 billion.”

This means that patients will continue to be ordered to buy their own medicines in the pharmacies outside the Mulago National Referral Hospital due to limited funds allocated for the purchase of specialized medical supplies, the health facility’s executive director Dr Rosemary Byanyima has warned.

Dr Byanyima and her team from Mulago appeared before Parliament’s Health Committee to present the hospital’s 2025-2026 budget.

She said they needed up to Shs101bn for the provision of specialized medical supplies.

It should be remembered that a top Museveni government official has previously made it clear to Ugandans that they are on their own, showing how a certain class of civil servants were enjoying a better life as the majority continued to suffer with poor public services. (See Details Here).

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