Police in Bukwo in Sebei region on Wednesday recovered stolen hospital property worth shs 12million from the office of the Bukwo district hospital administrator.
The recovery of the items such as mattresses and drugs delivered by the ministry of health to Bukwo hospital was after a tip-off by the anti-corruption monitors of Bukwo district.
Mr.Benjamin Chelangat one of the anti-corruption monitors in Bukwo said they discovered the disappearance of the mattress in the hospital in December last year.
According to Chelangat, he was among the team who witnessed the delivery of the mattresses to the hospital by the ministry of health in March last year, but some mattresses disappeared and patients were sleeping on the floor.
“I witnessed when the ministry delivered 15 mattresses but we received information that only 10 mattresses were in the wards and five were missing, so we started investigating where the mattresses went until one person in the hospital tipped us off that the mattresses were in the office of the hospital administrator,” he explained.
Mr Chelangat said he alerted the district resident commissioner Mr. Samuel Hashaka Mpimbaza who ordered the raid in the hospital administrator’s office and recovered mattresses and drugs.
Peter Chesakit, another anti-corruption monitor alleged they got information that the mattresses were supposed to be taken and sold to a private clinic operating in Kenya side at the border of Bukwo and Kenya.
Mr Hashaka said he was shocked that patients sleep on the floor yet the mattresses bought by the government for the hospital were being illegally kept in the office of the hospital administrator.
Hashaka directed the district police commander to ensure that the hospital administrator is arrested and charged for theft.
But Mr Dominic Kapurunge, the hospital administrator said the hospital properties were stolen by the hospital Askari who was chased away.
“I picked them from the Askari and brought them to my office to keep but I didn’t steal anything,”
Mr Samson Lubega the district Police commander Bukwo collected the mattress and drugs, took them to police as exhibits.
He said the officer will be summoned to make his statement on how the hospital property ended in his office.
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