PM orders medical officers to allocate funds for ambulance fuel in their health service budgets

SHINYANGA: PRIME Minister Mwigulu Nchemba has directed regional and district medical officers across the country to allocate funds for ambulance fuel in their health service budgets to ensure patients requiring emergency referrals are not delayed over demands for fuel contributions.

He issued the directive today, November 9, 2026, while addressing residents of Iselamagazi in Solwa Constituency, Shinyanga District Council, during his working visit to Shinyanga Region.

“We should not ask people to contribute money for ambulance fuel. An ambulance should transport patients to hospital without delay. An ambulance is not a public commuter bus, and nurses are not conductors collecting fuel contributions,” he said.

Dr Nchemba directed the Shinyanga Regional Medical Officer to ensure ambulances are adequately fuelled and always ready to respond to emergencies. He stressed that fuel costs must be included in health budgets currently being prepared.

“If you did not include it in the previous budget and are now preparing a new one, I want all ambulances to be on standby so that patients whose lives need saving are never asked to pay for fuel,” he said.

He also urged residents who have been asked to contribute towards ambulance fuel to provide the full names of the three employees responsible, directing that staff who deliberately delay services through negligence should be dismissed rather than transferred to other facilities.

On maternal healthcare, the Prime Minister said pregnant women arriving at hospitals in labour must receive immediate attention instead of being delayed at reception over demands for supplies such as buckets and basins.

“We should not turn routine practices into rules,” he emphasised.

In another development, Dr Nchemba directed security and law enforcement agencies to monitor funds allocated for medicines, from procurement and distribution to their actual availability to patients.

He said it was unacceptable for health facilities to report medicine availability of more than 97 per cent while patients continued to be referred to private pharmacies to purchase prescribed drugs.

“How much money has been released? How much medicine has been purchased? Where has it been distributed, and how are citizens accessing it?” he questioned.

He further directed that medicine procurement should be guided by actual demand and the types of diseases prevalent in respective areas.

On agriculture, Dr Nchemba announced that beginning with the next cotton marketing season, the government would allow multiple buyers to participate in purchasing the crop instead of having a single buyer in a particular area.

He said the move was intended to promote price competition and increase benefits for farmers. The decision follows complaints raised by farmers during his visit to Simiyu Region and subsequent instructions to the Minister for Agriculture to consult stakeholders in the cotton industry.

Regarding road infrastructure, the Prime Minister directed the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) Regional Manager in Shinyanga to ensure designs for roads requested by Solwa Member of Parliament Ahmed Ally Salum are updated where necessary.

He said the designs should be ready for consideration when the government begins implementing new projects in the next financial year.

The roads include Old Shinyanga–Iselamagazi–Solwa–Salawe and Mwanangwa–Misasi–Salawe–Solwa–Kahama.

Dr Nchemba explained that the government had started channeling funds for roads, water and electricity directly to the respective sectoral funds to speed up project implementation. He said the current priority was to complete stalled projects and those whose contracts had already been signed.

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On economic activities, the Prime Minister criticised the practice of impounding motorcycles, three-wheelers and other working tools belonging to self-employed citizens over offences that attract fines.

He insisted that offenders should instead be fined in accordance with the law without being prevented from continuing with their income-generating activities.

He also said the government had taken steps to remove taxes on raw materials used in cement manufacturing to help reduce the cost of construction materials.

On the boundary dispute involving conservation areas in Solwa Constituency, Dr Nchemba pledged to consult the relevant ministries and review previous proposals to find a lasting solution.

However, he urged residents to respect the existing boundaries as the government continues addressing the matter.