The Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Children and the Elderly, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, said at a news conference in Tanga that the government had all along been willing to facilitate Mr Lissu’s treatment anywhere in the world.
However, the government had not done so because it had not received a formal request from Mr Lissu’s family or his party, Chadema, she said.
“I arranged for Mr Lissu to be airlifted to Muhimbili National Hospital from Dodoma on the day he was shot, but his family and Chadema leaders opted to take him outside the country.”
Ms Mwalimu said it was normal procedure for a leader, be it a government official or an MP, to request for government financial assistant if the need for treatment abroad arose.
“The government has to receive a formal request first for medical assistance and also act on recommendations made by doctors. That puts us in a position to make a firm decision.
“Even when the late National Assembly Speaker Samuel Sitta fell sick he personally requested for financial assistance that would have enabled him to travel abroad for treatment, something which was granted,” Ms Mwalimu said when explaining why the government had not offered any meaningful assistance two weeks after Mr Lissu was shot and seriously wounded in Dodoma.
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