Three Arua hospital staff arrested over theft of X-ray

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Police in Arua City have arrested three staff of Arua Regional Referral Hospital over alleged theft of digital x-ray machine components.

The West Nile Region Police Spokesperson Josephine Angucia identified the suspects as Billington Abila, a radiographer, Alex Okello, and Benard Olul who are storekeepers.

They were arrested on Tuesday after Hillary Onziga, the in-charge TB ward and X-ray machine reported to police that the components of the x-ray were missing.

According to Angucia, Abila reportedly took the components that include a laptop and a Samsung Galaxy tablet to Furaha Link ventures limited, a financial institution in Arua City to secure a loan of sh1.2 million.

The x-ray and its components were recently donated by the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB), the technical arm of the Health Commission of the Uganda Episcopal Conference for T.B management.

Felix Obedgiu, a staff of Furaha Link Ventures LTD, Arua Branch confirmed the incident to URN and said they want the suspect to pay back the loan.

Preliminary Police investigations blame the incident on laxity and poor record management on the movement of equipment at the hospital stores.

Over the past few years, Arua regional referral hospital has recorded thefts of essential medical equipment some of which are still under police investigations.

For instance, in December last year, five staff of the hospital were arrested over the theft of an ambulance. The Toyota Land Cruiser registration number UG 6812M disappeared from the hospital parking yard on the night of Saturday, March 27, 2021.

In February 2020, an autoclave machine and assorted kits worth over Sh500 million also disappeared from the hospital and were recovered from Nebbi.

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