Leaders in Rukungiri District have renewed calls for the establishment of a public hospital, thirteen years after President Yoweri Museveni pledged to establish a referral hospital in the district. Rukungiri and Rukiga districts in the Kigezi sub-region operate without a government-owned hospital.
The district was created as North Kigezi in 1974 and renamed Rukungiri in 1980, but residents still rely largely on private and faith-based hospitals for higher-level health services. These include Kisiizi Hospital and Nyakibale Hospital, which are owned by the Church of Uganda and Kabale Diocese, respectively.
In October 2013, while presiding over Uganda’s 51st Independence Anniversary celebrations at Rukungiri Municipal Stadium, President Museveni pledged to establish a referral hospital in the district. However, the pledge remains unfulfilled.
Speaking on Wednesday during the fourth Kigezi Health Sector Joint Performance Review Mission in Rubanda District, Rukungiri District Vice Chairperson James Turyamuboona said the delay has raised concern among residents and local leaders. He appealed to the government to expedite the establishment of the hospital.
Rukungiri District Health Officer, Dr Akasiima Mucunguzi, says the district has about 95 health facilities, but none has the capacity or status of a public hospital. She says the absence of a government hospital forces patients referred from lower-level public facilities to seek treatment in private hospitals, where they have to pay for services.
Mucunguzi says this particularly affects expectant mothers and other patients who initially receive free care at government health centres. She also says Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, which serves as the nearest major public referral facility, is too far from Rukungiri to effectively serve the district.
Dr Gerald Mutungi, the Assistant Commissioner for Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, represented Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi at the meeting.
Mutungi said he was not aware of the 2013 presidential pledge. He said several districts across the country still do not have public hospitals, adding that the government is instead pursuing a plan to upgrade Health Centre Fours into mini hospitals. However, he said the major obstacle is funding, particularly the wage bill required to staff the upgraded facilities.
The two-day Kigezi Health Sector Joint Performance Review Mission assessed health-sector performance during the 2025/2026 financial year and developed action plans to improve healthcare delivery in the sub-region-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
