There is growing uproar in the ministry of health, who are questioning where the Ebola response funds claimed to be given by the US Government and other donors is going.
On Wednesday Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng the Minister of Health told Parliament that no single fund had been given to her ministry by development partners since the outbreak of the virus, despite of a clear response plan, which is affecting the speed of the response.
“Partners usually inquire about government input before they declare their resources. We are seeing partners declaring resources mobilized on social media, which resources we do not have information abou” Dr Aceng’s statement reads in part, saying that they need Shs76 billion.
US Ambassador to Uganda Natalie E. Brown, however told reporters in Kampala that the United States government has channelled funds meant for fighting Ebola through humanitarian agencies instead of Uganda’s Health ministry amid concerns that the money is often diverted to unrelated activities when given directly to government.
This, she said was because of the improper way how the covid-19 response funds were mishandled by officials leading to poor accountability.
She told reporters that said her government has so far given $22.3 million (about Shs83 billion) to Uganda since the outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic fever in September.
But she said the money has been disbursed to Baylor Uganda, which is in charge of contact tracing, alert management, and training laboratory staff on infection prevention and control; the Infectious Disease Institute, World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Ambassador Brown said they only released $6 million to the Ministry of Health, adding that the government needs to allocate money to the ministry as combating the epidemic requires collective effort.
This came as Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said her team needs to be allocated money directly in order to implement control activities in time.
