President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has announced plans to enlist religious leaders in the fight against drug theft in government health facilities, a vice that continues to cripple service delivery across Uganda’s health sector.
Speaking during a campaign rally in Alebtong District on Thursday, Museveni revealed he was considering deploying members of the clergy to directly supervise drug distribution at lower-level health facilities.
“In the Health Sector, our immunization aspect is doing very well. The only challenge is that some people are stealing drugs from government health facilities,” the President said. “But the Ministry of Health is using computers to track the drugs. These Health Center IIIs are not too many; they are about 2,000 in Uganda. So in the future, I might have to come to the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) to lend me one supervisor per health center.”
The President argued that religious leaders, given their moral standing, would bring integrity to the system and help curb theft. “These people of God, whom I believe want to go to heaven, can help us stop this theft of government drugs,” he added.
Drug theft remains a longstanding challenge in Uganda, leading to chronic shortages of essential medicines in public health facilities and costing the government billions of shillings each year. The vice is often linked to unscrupulous healthcare workers who divert medicines meant to be distributed free of charge and resell them in private pharmacies.
Government has previously introduced measures such as barcoding and digital tracking of drug supplies, but enforcement gaps have allowed the practice to persist.
Museveni’s proposal to bring faith leaders into the oversight system reflects his administration’s bid to restore public trust and ensure taxpayers’ resources reach the intended beneficiaries.
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