KAMPALA, October 14, 2026 — The Minister of State for Primary Health Care, Charles Ayume, has defended the Government’s proposal to borrow Shs 139 billion from the French Government to construct and equip the Uganda Cancer Institute [UCI] Mbarara Regional Oncology Centre.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Health on Tuesday, Ayume said the proposed facility is one of four regional cancer centres planned to reduce congestion at UCI in Kampala.
“The out-of-pocket expenditure of someone travelling from Kisoro or Kaabong district, who also has to come with a caretaker, is costly. That is why we are trying to decentralise these services,” Ayume said.
The loan request was tabled before Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Henry Musasizi, on September 29, 2026.
Ayume said the Mbarara centre would initially provide essential services, including cancer screening, chemotherapy and surgery, which he said would improve early detection and help prevent avoidable deaths.
“In my district, Koboko, when one comes to Mulago for cancer treatment, they return in a body bag because there are no screening services and no early diagnosis. This is what we want to address through the regional cancer centres,” he said.
Ayume added that although the centre would primarily serve Ugandans, it would also support medical tourism by attracting patients from the East African Community [EAC] and other African countries.
He noted that foreigners currently account for about 20 per cent of patients treated at UCI.
“The priority of this centre is Ugandans, but in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, we will use it for medical tourism, targeting the East African Community and other African countries,” Ayume said.
The minister said the Government would soon introduce proton therapy, an advanced form of radiation treatment that precisely targets tumours while reducing damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
However, the UCI Executive Director, Dr Jackson Orem, clarified that the Mbarara centre would not initially offer radiotherapy because of limited funding. Patients requiring the service will, in the meantime, be referred to UCI in Kampala.
“Instead of spreading ourselves thin, we decided to first provide basic services and later introduce the more sophisticated modes of treatment,” Orem said.
Mbarara University of Science and Technology [MUST] Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ngonzi, said the university had allocated 8.5 acres of land for the project and was finalising a memorandum of understanding [MoU] with UCI.
“The University Council approved the request and a letter of offer was given to UCI. We are in the process of finalising the memorandum of understanding regarding this engagement,” Ngonzi said.
Ngonzi added that the centre would support MUST’s move towards super-specialised medical training and said the university had trained personnel, including biomedical engineers, who could operate the facility.
The Committee Chairperson, Julius Rude, sought assurance that government’s Shs 16 billion counterpart contribution had been provided for in the budget.
“If the counterpart funding is not provided for in the budget, it will delay the project or it will get stuck along the way,” Rude said.
Peter Kiti, the T’oo County legislator, called for the establishment of a special cancer treatment fund to finance expensive medicines.
“Cancer medicines are expensive and beyond the reach of an ordinary person. We need a special fund to support their procurement and make treatment more affordable,” Kiti said.
He also called for scientific studies into herbal remedies reportedly used to treat cancer.
https://thecooperator.news/mbarara-hospital-secures-dedicated-power-line-to-boost-service-delivery/
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