Thread by @GodwinTOKO

Let's talk about Lubowa Hospital.

Lubowa is such a big deal that when @KagutaMuseveni wrote this letter to Speaker @RebeccaKadagaUG in 2019, he probably didn't proofread it, hence calling Pinetti “chairman” in one paragraph & “Maama” in another...

1/18

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But, what exactly is the Lubowa International Specialised Hospital Uganda (ISHU) & why is the project so controversial?

Here's what we know.

It all started with Ms Enrica Pinetti an Italian investor whose plane taxied at Entebbe in 2013...

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Pinetti came with wonderful intentions - the construction of a much-needed specialised International hospital in the country.

So, she quickly arranged & met some officials at @MinofHealthUG who - as she later told the President - asked her for a bribe.

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Pinetti stood firm on her good intentions, now with blessings from the number one citizen.

So, in 2014, her company - FINASI & a local construction ROKO - came together to execute the project, that same year, Pres Museveni laid a foundation stone for...

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...the project.

The hospital was to stand on land owned by the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) - the same land some members of Buganda Royal family claimed was stolen from them with a court case in the works.

Given the project was a PPP, several agreements were signed...

...btn the govt on one hand & FINASI/ROKO on the other in the four years that followed.

Through these agreements, FINASI/ROKO would build, equip, & staff the hospital.

The govt of Uganda would pay for the project to a tune of US $ 379.7 million dollars - 1.4 trillion UGX...

That's 80 per cent of @MinofHealthUG annual budget!

The govt of Uganda was represented by the Ministry of Finance. The first payment by govt was to come two years after commencement of construction

The time for that payment fell on 20 December 2018. Then things turned ‘Ugandan’

The AG threw a huge spanner in the works, the Ministry of Finance, he advised, needed parliamentary approval before entering the contract for payment of such an elephantine sum.

Better late than never, goes the saying. The Ministry of Finance did just that. It belatedly...

...sought parliamentary approval. Their brief to Parliament for payment of a sum not exceeding US $ 379.71 million to FINASI/ROKO Construction SPV Ltd for “financing of the design, construction, & equipping the ISHU at Lubowa.

It was accompanied with a warning - or threat...

The Ministry of Finance said it had defaulted on a legally binding agreement with FINASI/ROKO Construction SPV & if payment was not effected soon enough, they ran the risk of having it terminated - with consequences thereto.

Given the sum of money sought et al, the Ministry’s...

...request was naturally met with questions; two million of them or more.

We’ll discuss those questions later, for now, let’s finish with this...

So, it was on this basis that the Fountain of Honour wrote to Kadaga and parliament the letter above...
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Parliament obeyed. It issued the money as requested - or directed? - by the President.

Before the ink dried on the approvals for the money, parliament learnt that part of the money issued - the US $ 37 million - had disappeared, gone the way of the dodo bird with no trace...

That, interestingly, wasn't the final twist & turn in this story of so many twists & turns.

Next came the divorce. The FINASI team turned up at the construction site with armed men and ordered the ROKO team out of the site. If ROKO wasn't prepared for the divorce, FINASI...

...was more than prepared: they had a new partner to play what would have been ROKO’s role - “China Power”.

ROKO did what most jilted lovers do: try and stop the progress of their partner without them. So, they went to court.

FINASI’s swift divorce with ROKO - using arms...

...taught them a very important Ugandan lesson - the gun rules here.

When the @MinofHealthUG, @JaneRuth_Aceng, her PS Atwiine and others tried to visit the hospital project in 2019, they were blocked - by arms.

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observer.ug/news/headlines…

Today the project remains like it was in 2019, with nothing serious going on.

In @rkabushenga Twitter Space recently, the PRO in @MinofHealthUG, @ainbyoo blamed it all on - your guess? - COVID-19! The virus, he said, had stopped some workers from jetting into Uganda & delayed...

...the work. But, Ainebyona was not done, he reassured the country the project will be complete by 2025. That's two years from now - just in time to treat victims of Police Brutality in the 2026 elections.

The Chairperson of the health committee in parliament @DrAyumeCharles...

...has different view. Let the dead rest, he advised. Let's count our losses on the project.

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18/18

observer.ug/viewpoint/7713…