Parliament has ordered an investigation into the disappearance of medical equipment worth Shs4.9 billion and four ambulances reportedly supplied to Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, raising fresh questions about the management of public health resources in one of Uganda’s most underserved regions.
The probe was ordered by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday after hospital officials appeared before the committee to account for funds received during the 2024/25 financial year. The committee was told that Ministry of Health records indicate that medical equipment worth Shs4.9 billion was supplied to Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, but hospital officials said the equipment never reached the facility.
The whereabouts of four ambulances reportedly intended for the hospital also remain unclear. PAC subsequently directed Parliament’s Criminal Investigations Department to investigate the missing equipment and vehicles and establish what happened to resources procured using public funds.
The revelations come at a time when Moroto Regional Referral Hospital is already struggling with serious staffing shortages, adding another layer to concerns about the hospital’s ability to provide essential services.
Hospital officials told the committee that more than 20 health workers who were transferred to Moroto in February 2025 had never reported to the facility. The hospital is reportedly operating at only 26 percent of its required staffing level. Officials further said workers who had previously been transferred out of Moroto have left, while some of the remaining staff are also seeking transfers.
The combination of inadequate staffing and questions surrounding medical equipment creates a significant operational problem for the hospital. Even where government allocates money for health infrastructure and equipment, the intended benefit to patients depends on those resources actually reaching facilities, being functional and being properly managed.
The equipment concerns also extend beyond the Shs4.9 billion reported as missing. An Auditor General’s report for the 2024/25 financial year, cited during the parliamentary proceedings, found that Moroto Hospital had two pressure swing adsorption oxygen plants valued at Shs3.726 billion. Physical inspection in September 2025 reportedly found that the plants had been non-functional for about three years.
The findings raise questions about the value that Uganda is receiving from major investments in medical infrastructure and equipment, particularly in regional referral hospitals expected to serve large populations.
For the government, the investigation will therefore have implications beyond establishing the whereabouts of four ambulances or a consignment of equipment. It will need to determine whether the discrepancies resulted from administrative failures, weaknesses in procurement and delivery controls, diversion of public resources or other irregularities. Those questions remain matters for investigation and should not be treated as established wrongdoing against any individual or institution.
The case also illustrates the financial risk created when government departments record supplies as delivered without effective verification at the point of use.
A functioning accountability system should be able to establish the full chain from procurement and dispatch to receipt, installation, commissioning and use. Where that chain breaks down, billions of shillings can be recorded as expenditure without the public receiving the corresponding service.
This is particularly significant in healthcare, where missing or non-functional equipment is not simply an accounting problem. It can directly affect a hospital’s ability to diagnose and treat patients. PAC’s intervention therefore puts pressure on the relevant government agencies to establish what happened to the equipment and ambulances, while also addressing the wider staffing and operational weaknesses at Moroto Regional Referral Hospital.
The investigation will ultimately test whether Uganda’s health financing system can translate budget allocations into functioning services on the ground. For Moroto, the question is no longer only how much government has spent on the hospital. It is whether the money, equipment and personnel allocated to the facility are actually reaching the patients they were intended to serve.
