Medics sue govt over withdrawn allowances

Lawyer Jane Namaganda Kibira, UMA leaders and some of the disgruntled interns shortly after filing their petition at the High Court on Wednesday. Photo | Ibrahim Kavuma.

Medical workers under their representative bodies on Wednesday petitioned court over what they described as widespread human rights violations stemming from selective withdrawal of allowances.

The medical workers fault the government for abruptly withdrawing allowances for medical interns employed at lower government district positions, Senior House Officers (SHOs), and refugee intern doctors. The SHOs are medical professionals on government payroll who choose to upgrade their studies outside their districts of operation.

But officials from the Ministry of Health when contacted insisted that there is nothing wrong because whoever is supposed to be paid is receiving the lawfully prescribed pay.

“Those who are already on the government payroll are not supposed to receive the allowances because that would be double salary and for refugee interns, those are non-Ugandans,” said Emmanuel Ainebyona, the Ministry of Health spokesperson.

Speaking on behalf of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) and the Federation for Uganda Medical Interns, lawyer Jane Namaganda Kibira of Wetaka Bukenya & Co Advocates said the government’s actions have left many health workers struggling to survive while delivering essential services.

“When they withdrew the money, all the different categories I’ve mentioned had to stay without money. This violated their right to health; a doctor who is treating others is hungry,” she said.

According to Namaganda, the allowances are not luxuries but essential support meant to cover basic needs such as food and accommodation. Their removal, she argued, has pushed doctors into difficult living conditions that undermine both their welfare and the quality of care they provide.

Namaganda noted that while other public servants receive additional allowances when deployed away from their home districts, doctors in similar circumstances are denied the same support.

“It is discriminatory in such a way that all other government employees get additional allowances when they go to different districts of operation, but these senior house officers who are paid only Shs1 million per month are deprived of such right,” she said.

Beyond economic hardship, the petition raises concerns about the impact on doctors’ education and career progression. Many of the affected professionals are pursuing postgraduate studies while working demanding schedules.

“These are doing their masters, and when you look at the Constitution, it says everyone should be given a chance to have the highest education. Withholding allowances meant for food denies these doctors the chance to study and upgrade to become specialists,” Kibira argued.

The case further questions the working conditions of interns and senior house officers, whom the lawyer described as overworked and undercompensated.

“We are also challenging the continuous working of the senior house officers and medical interns for a full year, terming them as students, yet they work and only get leave of two and a half days per month. That is not work — that is slavery to us. It is forced work,” she said.

The doctors are asking the court to conduct field visits to training health facilities to assess working conditions firsthand. They are also pushing for increased funding to the Ministry of Health.

“We are asking the court to come and visit the different training health centres so that they recognize what we are doing. We are also asking the Ministry of Finance to increase the budget for the Ministry of Health,” said Dr. Joseph Garvin Nyanzi, one of the UMA leaders.

Namutebi Florence, one of the disgruntled interns, wondered why the government sidelines them yet they keep seeing its agencies doling out money to wasteful expenditures.

“The Ministry of Health says they don't have enough money and yet we are seeing a lot of money in circulation. We are seeing URA employees are getting paid an appreciation of billions of money when the doctors have no money. We are saying let the government release immediately all the allowances for all the doctors who are affected,” she said.