By KT Reporter
Authorities at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital have raised concerns over the increasing congestion at the hospital mortuary, which is overwhelmed by a growing number of unclaimed bodies from across Gulu City. According to the authorities, the hospital six six-body capacity mortuary is currently handling more than ten bodies at a time, the majority of them dumped by the police after being found dead or after fatal accidents.
Walter Uryek-Wun, the Hospital’s Principal Administrator, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that the situation is alarming, forcing them to task the Gulu city officials to prioritize constructing a city morgue to decongest the hospital mortuary. Uryek-Wun noted that the construction of a city council morgue would ease the pressure being exerted on the referral hospital and ensure proper management of dead bodies, unlike currently, where bodies lie on the floor and are left untreated.
According to Uryek-Wun, while the hospital handles about six bodies weekly that come directly from the hospital, it receives an estimated 20 from outside the facility, which are brought and dumped by the police. The majority of the bodies are victims of mob justice, motor accidents, and those found dead under unclear circumstances. He noted that the hospital’s thin staff at the mortuary are currently constrained in managing the bodies, since they operate beyond the scope of their duties, while the hospital itself is incurring huge expenses in treating and burying the bodies, some of which are decomposing.
To address the challenge, Uryek-Wun says they are considering expanding the refrigerator capacity of the mortuary from six bodies to 12 bodies, adding that they have also officially notified the city council and police of an engagement to better manage the mortuary challenges. Currently, the hospital has three unclaimed bodies lying in the mortuary, which the hospital authorities say has been a persistent challenge to them.
Innocent Ahimbisibwe, the Gulu City Council Clerk, however, noted that the hospital hasn’t officially disclosed to them the challenges they are experiencing at the mortuary. Ahimbisibwe hinted at a possible communication gap between the hospital authorities and the city council officials, arguing that the matter can be resolved if information is shared with them in time.
According to Ahimbisibwe, the city council is fully committed to ensuring unclaimed bodies are buried fast enough in the city council mortuary, but downplayed any plans to construct a new city council morgue. “…For the construction of the mortuary, that one which is there, (Gulu regional referral hospital) can still serve when we communicate and share. Because if the bodies are not claimed, we know the standard time of preparing these bodies and we take them for burial, so that one is not a big deal,” said Ahimbisibwe.
Gulu City officials have, in the past, too, raised complaints over footing heavy finances to bury unclaimed bodies at the City cemetery located in Atede B Cell in Pece-Laroo Division. For instance, according to the officials, the city council spends approximately 170,000 shillings on burying unclaimed bodies. The cost excludes expenses on allowances and fuel for transporting the body outside the city center. Quarterly, the city council budgets an estimated 230,000 shillings each for the burial of at least 20 unclaimed bodies-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
