Police in Mbale City have arrested a doctor attached to Mbale regional referral hospital on allegations of stealing 40 oxygen cylinders from the facility.
The medic is accused of stealing the cylinders which he allegedly took to his private facility, Life General Clinic and Laboratory in Nkoma ward, Industrial City Division, located about four Kilometers away from the regional referral hospital.
Police have since recovered one of the cylinders from the clinic and also arrested one of the staff at the clinic.
The Elgon region police spokesperson, Rogers Taitika, confirmed the arrest and said detectives are investigating how the cylinders were stolen from the referral facility.
He said two suspects are being detained at Mbale Central Police Station as investigations continue.
Sources in Mbale regional referral hospital told our reporter that the cylinders were stolen from the hospital in April this year.
When contacted on the matter, Dr Emmanuel Tugaineyo, the Director of Mbale regional referral hospital, said he was not aware that oxygen cylinders had been stolen from the hospital.
A senior doctor at Mbale regional referral hospital, who requested not to be named in the story, said the hospital is manned by both police and private security guards but wondered how someone could ferry the cylinders out of the hospital without security noticing.
