The shocking news that Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, Minister of ICT & National Guidance, had collapsed in his district and had to be airlifted to Kampala for better management shocked the nation last weekend. No medical facility in his district was able to handle the situation.
Francis Mwijukye, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Buhweju County, has written shocking details about Minister Baryomunsi’s recent health story.
Baryomunsi’s collapse, in Mwijukye’s account, took place just two days after the two of them appeared on the NBS Frontline show and spoke about the state of service delivery in Uganda.
“On this show, I explained the shambolic nature of our service delivery in education, health, water, and infrastructure, among others.
I thought that as a Minister of National Guidance, Baryomunsi would find it reasonable to advise his government to fix some of these gaps so that Ugandans can be saved. I told Baryomunsi that our people were enduring a lot of pain yet they pay huge taxes,” says Mwijukye.
Mwijukye states that Baryomunsi dismissed his arguments, calling him a sadist who is just opposing for the sake of it.
“Little did Baryomunsi know that he is actually the greatest sadist of our times!
“Of course, Baryomunsi is a liar, a pretender, and a hypocrite who has been blindfolded by power that he can’t speak the truth,” asserts the MP.
Mwijukye contends that the publicized account of Baryomunsi’s collapse is untrue.
“The truth that hasn’t been told is that Baryomunsi did not faint while he was taking iron sheets to a church in a place called Kyankyere in his constituency.
Because there is no road connection to this village, his motorcade could not reach the church, and together with his team and the locals, they had to carry the iron sheets on their shoulders up to the church,” claims the MP.
He adds, “As they were coming back, Baryomunsi slid and rolled down the hill into coma. Not even his huge security detail could save him. It took eight men to carry him from that spot to his car and then to the nearest health center Rugyeyo Community Hospital.”
According to Mwijukye’s explanations, Rugyeyo Community Hospital was constructed by businessman James Musinguzi Garuga for the community using his own funds.
“Garuga and his friends equipped the hospital with modern equipment and were paying a bill of Shs45 million per month to run its operations,” he says.
Mwijukye asserts that Baryomunsi once fought the hospital project, claiming that Garuga had established a private facility on public land.
“Garuga succumbed to the political pressure from the powerful Minister and handed the project over to the Ministry of Heath, and laid off his staff.
The Ministry of Heath could not manage the project to avoid conflicting with Baryomunsi for obvious reasons. The project is now a structure with good equipment but with no personnel, it’s now a white elephant,” Mwijukye says.
“Unfortunately, the health facility that the Minister fought so hard is the same place where he was taken for first aid! Upon finding no staff, he was then taken to Kambuga Hospital, which had the staff but no equipment or medicine,” he adds.
Kambuga Hospital was constructed by President Obote in 1965.
“It is an embarrassment that a district that has been represented in Parliament by a medical doctor for over 20 years, who doubles as a Minister doesn’t actually have medical facilities that can save a life, but the same doctor doesn’t find a problem in fighting health projects by other people,” says Mwijukye.
The MP says that he’s happy that God made Baryomunsi collapse in Kanungu, took him through a dangerous health facility, and saved him from death so that he can be a living testimony.
“God was telling him that he has lost touch with reality,” he says.