A total of 1,435 medical interns have been randomly placed across 73 internship training centers for a period of one year, starting from August 5, 2024, to July 31, 2025, by the government.
The deployed interns were the cohort of 2023 and the previous years, according to the government.
This was announced by the State Minister for General Duties, Anifa Kawooya, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, during the parliamentary plenary sessions.
“This financial year, the Ministry of Health was allocated Shs35.6bn to cater for the deployment of both medical interns and senior house officers, yet the cost of deploying one intern for one year, inclusive of allowance and PAYE tax, totals Shs15.6m,” said Minister Kawooya.
She said only Shs23.4 billion is available for the deployment of the current medical interns.
The minister said, “Considering the expenditure of Shs15.6m per intern per annum, this money (Shs23.4bn) can only deploy 1,500 interns.”
MP Dr. Charles Ayume of Koboko Municipality said the Ministry of Health is being wrongly crucified on the issue of medical interns, saying the mischief is in planning and financing.
“If the government can’t raise enough money for these students [medical interns], can’t the ministry open it up for those who can sponsor themselves?” said MP Godfrey Onzima of Aringa North County.
MP Oliver Koyekyenga of Buhweju District urges the government to prioritize the deployment of medical interns.
“We want people to study sciences, but in the end, we don’t even know how to help them. This is because we do things without planning,” said MP Koyekyenga.
MP Christine Apolot of Kumi District demands that the government consider bringing a supplementary budget to address the issue of medical interns, while MP Gorreth Namugga (Mawogola South) proposes that the government look into the classified budget to get the Shs18bn needed for interns.
Minister Kawooya later asked for time to allow the Ministry of Health to table their strategic plan on how to solve the medical internship issue once and for all before Parliament.
