High court orders Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council to deploy students of King Ceasor university for internship.

The High Court In Kampala has ordered the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council to forward lists of King Ceasor internship students for deployment. The decision was made by Justice Musa Ssekana.

This comes after, Two inspections including one by the 3rd of Joint East African Community Medical and Dental Practitioners Councils/boards inspection team were conducted and it was found out that the University didn’t meet the minimum standards for training medical interns in the East African Community.

The Ass.Prof Joel Okullo, the chairperson of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioner’s Council had opposed the case saying that the National Council for Higher Education together with the council in the exercise of its statutory duty unanimously agreed that graduates from King Ceasor University (KCU) of the (MBChB) program could not be forwarded for the pre-registration exercise.

However, two students Brian Munyambabazi and Ronald Masereka said the Attorney General and the Uganda Medical Council asking for a declaration to exclude them and 136 others from KCU in the internship placement was unfair, illegal and biased.

While presiding over the matter, Justice Musa Ssekaana challenged the 1st respondent/Medical Council and stated that the University has all the facilities to teach the Course and all students do clinical from Kiruddu and Kawempe hospitals together with students from other Institutions, adding that they are trained by the same staff at these hospitals throughout the entire period of 5 years.

He therefore granted the following orders:-

i) The Court issues an order of certiorari against the 1st respondent quashing their decision not to deploy the applicants and other medical students of king ceasor university to the national medical internship program.

ii)This Court also issues a declaratory order that the applicants from king ceasor university who duly completed Bachelor of medicine and Bachelor of surgery (Mbch.b) have a right to be deployed for internship.

iii)This Court further issues an order of mandamus compelling the 1st respondent to forward the names of the applicants and other medical graduates from king ceasor university for medical internship.

iv)Each party should bear it’s costs.

Story by: derrick kanalo