By KT Reporter
At least 509 bodies remained unclaimed last year, according to the Uganda Police Force lead pathologist, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Dr Moses Byaruhanga.
Police records indicate that a total of 723 unknown bodies were received in the twelve months of 2025.
Dr Byaruhanga, who also serves as the Director of Police Health Services, says all the unidentified bodies were taken to the KCCA Mortuary.
Out of these, only 214 were eventually claimed by relatives.
He explains that the remaining 509 unclaimed bodies were buried at Bukasa public cemetery, which is managed by the Kampala Capital City Authority.
Before burial, police carried out full forensic documentation.
“Various samples were collected from the bodies. Fingerprints and 3D photographs were also taken for each body before burial,” Dr Byaruhanga said.
Police say the challenge is largely linked to the lack of identification documents among many residents.
According to Dr Byaruhanga, some people leave their homes and travel to Kampala without any form of identification, making it extremely difficult to trace relatives when such individuals are killed by criminals, involved in accidents, or collapse and die suddenly.
Police also revealed that the largest number of postmortem examinations in the country were conducted at the KCCA Mortuary in Mulago, under the Kampala Metropolitan Police.
The facility is one of the country’s largest forensic pathology centres, jointly managed by the Uganda Police Force and KCCA, and plays a critical role in medico-legal investigations and public health services.
Meanwhile, hypertension topped the list of non-communicable diseases recorded at police health facilities in 2025.
Women accounted for 65.3 percent (3,926 cases), while men made up 34.7 percent of the total hypertension cases reported. Dr Byaruhanga explains that police health facilities serve not only police officers, but also their families and surrounding civilian communities.
“Our facilities accommodate police officers, their spouses, relatives, and members of nearby communities. These hypertension cases are therefore for all the people we attended to,” he said. However, service delivery remains constrained by shortages of medicines, particularly those not supplied by the National Medical Stores (NMS) to Health Centre IIs and IIIs, which form the majority of police health facilities.
Dr Byaruhanga adds that police facilities often receive patients who require stronger medication, which is not supplied by NMS.
Responding to the concern, Ministry of Health Spokesperson Emmanuel Ainebyoona explained that some medicines may not be supplied to police Health Centre IIs and IIIs when their cost exceeds the allocated police health budget.
Despite these challenges, Police Health Services implemented several interventions aimed at improving access to healthcare for police officers, their families, and surrounding communities.
Dr Byaruhanga says a total of 6.68 billion shillings was spent across ten priority funding areas, largely financed by the Government of Uganda, with additional support for medico-legal services from JLOS. The funding, he notes, focused on essential medicines, system strengthening, medical equipment, and disease-specific interventions.
-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
