Health Workers in Maracha District Advised to Focus on Serving People But Not Focus on Money

Story by Osuta Yusuf.

Maracha District.

Maracha District officials together with The Aid Support Organization (TASO) officials on Tuesday 15-April-2025 joined Cabinet Minister in charge of health, Hon Dr Jane Ruth Aceng in commissioning Community health extension workers (CHEWs) whose trainings started 1-March-2024 to 30-August-2024 and there after they were handed toMaracha District.

Training of the CHEWs is a Government program that has been implemented by TASO, and with funding from the Global Fund.

The 182 CHEWs, with 2 selected from each of the 91 parishes in Maracha District, were trained for 6 months with a focus on disease prevention, health promotion, community awareness, and surveillance in the communities.

Koliba Monica Kotevu, the Deputy RDC for Maracha District, labeled this approach by the Ministry of Health as choosing Preventive Measures rather than Clinical Measures.

“Today, you have increased the number of my mobilizers for government programs,” Madam Koliba averred amidst cheers.

With the health sector being one of the key priorities in a government, the Deputy RDC stated that this department has been a tool the residents use to measure their performance as a district by either complimenting or complaining if they aren’t satisfied with the services.

Deputy leader of the trainers, Dr. Gift Patrick Asibo, while thanking Minister for Health Hon Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, Dr. Richard Kabanda, Dr Ronald Miria Ocatre for the consistent effort and strategic direction they gave in ensuring the CHEWs strategy is rolled out successfully, expressed optimism that, the training and commissioning of these CHEWs is going to accelerate health sector in Maracha District.

District Health Officer for Maracha District, Dr Onzubo Paul, affirmed that the training of these 182 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) is another magic bullet in achieving their target of turning everyone in Maracha District into Healthcare personnel.

“We want every person in Maracha District to be a Health Worker in a way; we want to build Health facilities in the minds of the people,” Dr. Onzubo stated while lobbying for more support from the Minister for Health, Hon. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng.

Following numerous evidence-based scenarios where, a health center III has only 3 medical personnel but serves over 20,000 people in a Sub-county, leading to overworking of the staff, the Chief Administrative Officer for Maracha District, Mr Olila Patrick appreciated the Ministry of Health for this milestone but he appealed to the Ministry to allow them as a district to recruit more health workers to reduce the staffing gap in the health sector of the district.

Maracha, a District with over 230,000 people but having only 19 health centers and most times with inadequate medicines, Hon Obitre Stephen, the LC5 Chairperson for Maracha District rallied the Ministry of Health to establish more health centers to reduce the already overstretched health sector in the district.

Letia Jimmy, a beneficiary and Coordinator of the trainees acknowledged the impact the training has so far made in their lives in these 10 months in the community.

In a letter drafted by the CHEWs and read by their leaders, they promised to take Maracha District to a greater height regarding the health sector.

The woman member of Parliament for Maracha District, Hon Driwaru Jennifer, used this opportunity to lobby for a district hospital from the Cabinet Minister, Hon Dr Jane Ruth Aceng.

“Health is Made at Home But Repaired in the Hospital”, Hon Driwaru noted in parables.

While congratulating and appreciating the Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and Village Health Teams (VHTs) for the immense contributions they are making in the villages and parishes as far as health is concerned, the woman MP Hon Driwaru tasked them to create a Sacco and promised to give them Shs 10 Million as start-up capital for their Sacco in Maracha District.

During pass out of the Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), Hon Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister for Health stated that, she will only be happy for the graduands if the report in the coming months and year indicates that, the maternal health, child immunizations among others have improved in the district.

The Minister for Health cautioned the CHEWs not to start feeling big and powerful in their communities just because of this position.

In scenarios where workers who are given gadgets and kits for performing their official duties end up misusing them, Hon Dr Jane Aceng advised the beneficiaries not to start using the bicycles and Tablet Phones for bragging.

Following records of demonstrations in Uganda where the civil servants, especially teachers and health workers, had to lay down their tools as a way of expressing their grievances over delayed salary payments, Hon. Dr Jane Aceng warned the CHEWs against attempting to lay their tools along the way over delayed salary payments.

Apparently, it’s yet TASO paying 150,000 Shs each as a monthly salary to all the trained CHEWs and the Maracha District local government is expected to come in the next financial year to start paying the monthly salaries of the CHEWs.

“For me, I have the power to recruit and fire at any time as long as there is a gross mistake identified,” the Cabinet Minister, Hon. Dr. Aceng, furiously spoke while advising the CHEWs not to prefer money over service to the people.

Upon the commissioning, the 182 CHEWs were each awarded with Bicycles as means of transport, Samsung Tablet Phones for submission of their reports and assorted medical kits to handle emergency situations in the communities.