Members of Parliament have expressed concern over the failure of Kabale Regional Referral Hospital to utilize Shs 215 million allocated by the government in the 2024/25 financial year for staff salaries, despite a critical shortage of personnel at the facility.
The concerns were raised during a meeting between hospital officials and the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on July 30, 2025, convened to review the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending December 2024.
According to the report, the hospital received UGX 12,428,906,616, of which UGX 12,010,918,929 was utilized by the close of the financial year. The remaining UGX 417,987,687, intended for staff salaries, pensions, and gratuities, was either partially used or not implemented at all.
Among the partially implemented activities cited in the report were: only two of the four required quarterly audit reports were submitted; 254 out of 262 staff salaries remained unpaid; only 951 out of 1,200 job cards were completed at Kigezi Hospital; 250 out of 262 staff were enrolled in the biometric system; and only 120 out of 262 staff had completed performance appraisals.
Dr. Philbert Nyeko, Director of Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, attributed the unutilized UGX 215 million to the transfer of several staff without immediate replacements.
He explained that the budgeted funds to retire nursing assistants were not used after government directed that only those due for mandatory retirement be affected.
Additionally, Shs 45.5 million earmarked for gratuity for the same group of retirees remained unspent, contributing to the shortfall.
“Some of our staff, including the hospital auditor, were transferred during a transitional period before completing key reports. Verifications for new staff were also delayed. These transitions affected our performance, leading us to combine three quarterly reports into one,” Nyeko told the committee.
Despite the setbacks, the Vice Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Goretti Namugga, commended the hospital for its financial discipline and accountability.
“Everything appears to be in order. Kabale could be one of the best-performing regional referral hospitals in the country,” she said.
Kabale Regional Referral Hospital serves a population of approximately 1.4 million people across six districts, Rukiga, Rubanda, Rukungiri, Kabale, Kisoro and Kanungu.
With a bed capacity of 145, the hospital incurs monthly utility expenses of UGX 19 million for National Water and UGX 25 million for electricity supplied by UMEME, now Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL).
