Dr Herbert Luswata, the General Secretary for Uganda Medical Association (UMA) has said that the action by the Association President Dr Samuel Oledo who, together with a group of others, donning clinical coats knelt before president Museveni asking him to stand for the presidency again in 2026 is not a decision of the association.
Dr Luswata said on Monday that the president didn’t act as a member of the association but rather as a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement party.
He says that while the president claimed he was speaking on behalf of doctors, he had only gathered medical students who he lured into escorting him to the event masquerading as doctors.
On Saturday, while attending an NRM youth symposium held at Kololo, Dr Oledo said that the doctors had endorsed Museveni for another term considering how he had sanitized the health sector and managed to increase doctors’ pay. The action sparked an outburst on social media with both medics and non-medical workers condemning the doctor’s action.
According to Dr Leonard Mutebi the President of the Uganda Medical Interns United, a faction of medical interns, since the incident, there has been an ongoing poll among doctors groups who are now signing a petition to have the doctor censored for breaching the principle that the professional body is not supposed to engage in partisan politics.
While outbursts continue, UMA is not yet committed to what its next course of action is.
Dr Mukuzi Muhereza, the former General Secretary said that going forward, the association needs to do a thorough vetting of who they give the mantle to lead them.
He added that while they don't discourage medical workers from having political affiliations, they need a leader who doesn't mix politics with professional work as UMA is a professional association.
Mukuzi advises that President Oledo should have already come out to issue an apology.
