By Jazeerah Mirembe
The Uganda Medical Association (UMA) has written to the ministers for Health and Justice, demanding the release of eight medical interns who were remanded to Luzira Prison on Friday.
The group, which is yet to start their internship, appeared before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court on Friday.
They were charged and remanded to Luzira Prison for allegedly causing a common nuisance during a demonstration staged to demand government assurance for payment of Shs4 million monthly allowance before they can start their internship.
“The Uganda Medical Association (UMA) writes to register its vehement condemnation of the escalating state actions against medical interns,”, Dr Frank Asiimwe, UMA president said in the letter.
“The sequence of events of arbitrarily arresting these young doctors, holding them in police cells for hours, hastily arraigning them before the courts, arbitrarily denying them bail and remanding them to prison to endure incarceration, is a grave injustice and an intolerable escalation,” he added.
While appearing before Grade One Magistrate Rophine Achayo on Friday, they were jointly charged with being a nuisance on a public road, contrary to Section 67(1)(e) and 1(a) of the Road Act, Cap 346. The interns denied the charges against them. Prosecution alleged that on August 12, 2026, at Parliamentary Avenue in Kampala Central Division, the accused, while dressed in white overcoats and carrying placards, placed themselves on the road in a manner that inconvenienced traffic. The charge sheet lists messages allegedly displayed on the placards, including “No pay, no reporting,” and “For the good of all Ugandans, pay all medical interns.’’
The matter was adjourned to August 17, 2026. But in the August 15 letter to the two ministers, the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister, UMA said government should look at the bigger picture and engage them to address the matters.
“Medical interns are the backbone of clinical service delivery across our national and regional referral hospitals,” Dr Asiimwe wrote.
“The Uganda Medical Association will not stand by and allow these young professionals, our heroes on the frontlines to be treated as criminals, used as bargaining chips, or made scapegoats for structural administrative failures,” he added.
The Minister of Health, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, recently indicated that Cabinet would discuss the matter and appropriate feedback would be given.
He asked the interns to start their training even as the discussions about payment continue.
According to the minister, government will pay allowances for medical interns who studied under government sponsorship at universities.
He also said discussions regarding the demand by UMA that allowances be paid to everyone and that the amount should be Shs4 million per month as opposed to Shs1 million per month were ongoing.
Medical interns are doctors, nurses and pharmacists who have just completed medical school.
They undergo a one-year internship in hospitals to qualify for the permanent practising licence.