KAMPALA – The former President of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) Dr. Ekwaro Obuku is set to contest as a workers legislator in the 11th Parliament.
The out-spoken doctor has been a foot soldier and a key figure in advocating for decent pay and a good working environment for the medical practitioners across the country ever since he assumed leadership at UMA in 2017 when he was elected.
Speaking to PML Daily, Obuku said that he is joining simply because politics provides a higher calling for him to continue his medicine practice since it is the highest form of medicine being a social good and a service at the end of the day.
“The amount of medicine which reaches Mulago hospital and Anyeke health centre (IV) where I come from is a function of the politics in Parliament, Judiciary, Executive, Ministry of Finance among others,” he said, adding that it will give him a platform to provide social services in this country such as health, education and food security.
He explained that he is prioritizing labour areas about decent work policies by looking for more opportunities in terms of employment and better incomes and safety at workplaces.
“Uganda has one of the youngest population globally and we need to think about how we can engage with the youth and also bettering the current employees through having a salary that is very sufficient. We need to think about other things over and above the minimum wage bill that the president did not ascent to, there is need to have a re-examination because there are reasons since he preaches Operation Wealth Creation and prosperity for all,” he explained.
He said “Anybody who is working wants to go home with dignity and this means that their family should be taken care of not only in terms of salaries but in terms of the social safety net. Any society that does not take into account the elderly does not improve the security of the society, and that is why many of our chiefs are not retiring because there is nothing to retire to, and this has to be done by continuously engaging with the brains of the society.”
