COVID-19 ambulances being flagged offBy Prisca WanyenyaParliament’s Public Accounts Committee has warned of Uganda failing to realize the value of the UGX209.426Bn medical equipment and ambulances purchased during the COVID-19 for several Regional Referral Hospitals, after most of them were found idle, while others went missing mysteriously.The warning was issued by Sarah Lwansasula (Jinja City Woman MP) during the presentation of the report on the Auditor General’s reports for December 2025 on the Regional Referral Hospitals on 5th November 2026.Lwansasula said, “Government and its partners procured medical equipment, vehicles and ambulances worth UGX 209.426Bn for COVID-19 response. Oxygen plants – Moroto, Yumbe and Soroti RRHs Audit indicated that oxygen plants at Moroto RRH worth UGX3.727Bn have been non-functional for 3 years due to unfinished and locked up plant house entrusted by the Ministry of Health to the UPDF Engineering Brigade on 30th July 2022 for completion in 6 months.”She also revealed that Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital’s plant of UGX 3.727Bn was incomplete, its site abandoned and an 800-ampere breaker damaged in transit; while 2 of 3 plants at Soroti RRH were not working, one never handed over by the UPDF and Ministry of Health and one un-serviced because the service contract is held centrally.During the scrutiny of the reports, Management of Yumbe RRH reported that the plant had been tested and awaited commissioning by the Ministry of Health, while the officials from Soroti Regional Referral Hospital, cited expired service contracts, limited technical capacity and inadequate maintenance funding, while Moroto RRH attributed delays to the UPDF Engineering Brigade.Lwansasula observed that oxygen plants worth about UGX 7.7Bn have produced little or no oxygen and the failure to complete and hand over a six-month contract after more than three years reflects serious contract management failures and undermines service delivery.“The Committee recommends that: the Secretary to Treasury should hold Ministry of Health and the UPDF Engineering Brigade accountable for the delays. MOH and the UPDF Brigade should, within 60 days of adoption of the report, expedite completion and handover of the Moroto, Yumbe and Soroti plants and service the two Soroti [plants]. Ministry of Health should devolve oxygen plant servicing contracts to the respective hospitals to ensure timely maintenance and minimize equipment downtime,” as noted in the report.The report also revealed that Moroto Regional Referral Hospital failed to account for the whereabouts of the ICU Equipment and Ambulances with the report detailing that of the equipment worth UGX9.883Bn received in 3 years, equipment UGX 4.997Bn was idle yet the hospital has no ICU; and the neonatal ventilator (UGX165.38Mn) and a defibrillator were not seen.Lwansasula who doubles as Chairperson PAC noted that ICU beds were dumped in store; some items listed were never received; UGX 2.418Bn of equipment was non-functional; while of 18 ambulances worth UGX5.062Bn on the Ministry of Health list for Moroto, only 3 were found. The Accounting Officer explained that the ICU items were stored for lack of space, that retooling of UGX108Mn a year is inadequate and that only 3 ambulances were received.The Committee observed serious weaknesses in asset delivery verification, custody and maintenance at Moroto RRH, undermining accountability and value for money.“The missing ventilator and defibrillator, alongside 15 ambulances reportedly not delivered, raise fundamental concerns about asset existence, delivery and accountability, rather than utilisation alone. The Committee recommends that; The Accounting Officer of Moroto RRH, in collaboration with Ministry of Health should, within 30 days of adoption of the report, physically verify and reconcile all medical equipment and ambulances against delivery notes, asset registers and Ministry records, and account for the missing ventilator, defibrillator and 15 ambulances,” remarked Lwansasula.Parliament also directed the Ministry of Health within 90 days of adoption of the report, submit a costed plan to operationalise the ICU and address storage and maintenance constraints.Additionally, the Auditor General also noted that; Soroti Regional Referral Hospital had 3 ventilators worth UGX 357.2Mn but each had no batteries or monitors and ICU beds were used as ordinary beds (idle assets UGX 2.784Bn); while at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, 6 ventilators were unusable because their hoses did not fit the ICU gas connectors.Parliament also learnt that at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, equipment of UGX 882.36Mn was idle, including a neonatal ventilator never used, while a UGX1.5Bn CT scanner served six patients a day against a capacity of 50; while at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, ICU beds, pumps without giving sets since 2022, a C-arm and an endoscopy unit were idle for lack of staff and consumables and at Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital, the entire HDU was idle – no anesthesiologist.Parliament adopted the recommendation to have the Accounting Officers of Soroti, Gulu, Hoima, Fort Portal and Yumbe Regional Referral Hospitals in collaboration with Ministry of Health should within 30 days of adoption of the report, submit verified inventories detailing the condition, operational status, missing accessories, staffing needs and restoration costs of each affected item.The Vice Chairperson PAC remarked, “The Ministry of Health should ensure that specialised equipment is distributed only where adequate space, power, staffing and maintenance budgets are available, and revise CT-scan fees at RRHs within 30 days of adoption of the report. Ministry of Health should institute quarterly monitoring and reporting on the functionality and utilisation of critical medical equipment at the affected hospitals until all identified deficiencies are resolved.”The report also highlighted loopholes in the ambulances, maintenance, insurance at; Kayunga, Yumbe, Gulu and Soroti Regional Referral Hospitals after the Auditor General noted that ambulances at Kayunga, Yumbe (UGX728.9M), Gulu (3 units) and Soroti (UBA 390Q) lacked defibrillators and core emergency equipment.Parliament was also told that 2 Soroti ambulances worth UGX 640Mn were off the road; Gulu had 4 vehicles without government plates and spent nothing on ambulance maintenance; Arua kept no maintenance logs; Assets at Soroti (UGX 3.744Bn) and Yumbe (UGX 192Mn) were uninsured; while Hoima had an untitled plot and a partly fenced main site.Although the Accounting Officers of these health facilities cited lack of funds, delays at the Ministry of Works and Transport, and the absence of a budget for insurance as reasons for these loopholes, Public Accounts Committee observed that these weaknesses expose public assets to loss, compromise emergency response and undermine accountability.Lwansasula noted, “Accounting Officers of Kayunga, Yumbe, Gulu and Soroti RRHs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Works and Transport, should within 60 days of adoption of the report, equip and repair ambulances, complete government registration, maintain service logs and prepare costed insurance plans for eligible assets subject to available funds and applicable requirement.”The post Shs209bn COVID Equipment Lying Idle or Missing: Parliament Demands Answers on Oxygen Plants, Ambulances appeared first on Business Focus.