Handcuffs - Courtesy

A government health worker has been arrested in Uganda’s eastern district of Manafwa after he allegedly promoted himself to the position of senior medical officer.

Dr. Daniel Wenani, a medical doctor attached to Bubulo Health IV at Manafwa District was apprehended on Saturday, according to Daily Monitor newspaper.

Another medical doctor identified as Dr. Paul Muto Bukhota was also netted for having abandoned work for a long time and having a separate job with an NGO.

They are reportedly being held at a local police station.

“Dr. Muto has abandoned his work at the facility while Mr. Wenani has been impersonating as senior medical officer and yet he is not,” Mirriam Akullo, the head of the investigation told the newspaper.

Prior to their arrest, officials had reportedly launched inquiry into the situation of service delivery at government facilities in the area, following reports of increasing maternal deaths due to negligence by health workers.

The inquiry also found widespread corruption in the district’s public health sector, with 18 ghost health centers and 75 health workers discovered, according to Monitor.