Parliament has approved a loan of Shs139 billion from the French government to build and equip a regional cancer centre at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST).
The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Henry Musasizi, presented the request to MPs. He said the loan would help the government take cancer care beyond Kampala.
Musasizi said treating patients closer to their homes would ease congestion in hospitals and cut the high costs families face when they travel for treatment.
He added that the project would also improve research and the training of health workers who care for cancer patients.
The money will pay for wards, clinical rooms and medical equipment at the new Uganda Cancer Institute Mbarara Regional Oncology Centre in western Uganda. The centre will also offer consultancy services, Musasizi said.
He told the House that the government would pay all taxes linked to the project. The loan carries an interest rate of 0.347% a year and must be repaid over 10 years, he said.
Solomon Silwany, the Bukooli Central MP, asked whether the government had assessed the loan proposal before bringing it to Parliament.
Speaker Jacob Oboth then asked Jane Pacuto, the Pakwach Woman MP who chairs the Committee on National Economy, to brief the House on how the proposal had been assessed.
Pacuto said her committee had met the finance minister, the Ministry of Health and the Must vice-chancellor. It also visited Must and the Mbale and Arua regional referral hospitals, which are also getting better cancer services.
She laid several documents before the House. They included the feasibility study, the impact assessment, and the report of the health committee.
She also tabled the contractor’s proposed concept, the Attorney General’s letter of clearance and the report on the contractor’s agreement. The responses of the finance and health committees were laid out too.
Pacuto said the committee was worried about the interest rate on the French loan. She said the figures in the proposal did not match and asked the finance ministry to provide a corrected interest rate.
The committee also asked for restrictions on buying project equipment outside France to be reviewed. It said this would support the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda (BUBU) policy and create jobs for Ugandans.
It further pointed out that the plan leaves out radiotherapy and does not set out enough safeguards for the infrastructure.
The government will contribute Shs7.36bn in counterpart funding in the 2027/28 and 2028/29 financial years.
The Committee on Health recommended that the Shs7.36bn be provided for in the 2026/27 budget. It asked MUST, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and the Uganda Cancer Institute to finish a three-way memorandum of understanding.
The committee also asked the implementing parties to look closely at the contractor’s track record and to manage the contract well, to avoid delays. It said the project should create jobs, support local industries and draw skilled professionals to the region.
The opposition chief whip, Paul Mwiru, said he supported the loan. He asked for more clarity on the government’s counterpart funding, however, because health remains one of the most underfunded sectors.
The Minister of State for Primary Health Care, Dr Charles Ayume, thanked the committees for putting cancer care first. He said the government would back the use of 8.5 acres of land donated by Must to start the project.
