KAMPALA- Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka has requested that Parliament allow time for consultations to develop a legal framework regarding the medical interns’ policy that allow medical interns who have not been deployed permission to cover their own expenses.
The request follows a statement by State Minister for Health Anifa Kawooya, who reported on the failure to deploy medical interns who completed their studies this year.
Kawooya explained that the current financial year’s allocation of Ugx 35.6 billion is only sufficient to deploy 1,500 medical interns from the 2023 cohort and previous years, as well as government-sponsored pharmacists from the 2024 cohort, who are in short supply.
An additional Ugx 18.8 billion is needed to deploy all available medical interns.
Several Members of Parliament called for a supplementary budget to cover these expenses, but Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa questioned why the government does not allow interns to pay for their own expenses.
Cue in………Tayebwa on interns
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka noted that securing a supplementary budget requires clarity on funding sources but emphasized that the government should be allowed to consult and create a legal instrument to potentially enable interns to fund themselves.
Cue in………KK on gov’t
Kabale Municipality MP Dr Nicholas Thadius Kamara expressed opposition, arguing that medical interns should not be required to provide free labor to the government.
Cue in………..Kamara on interns
Deputy Speaker Tayebwa responded by pointing out that even teachers are not paid during their internships.
