Health ministry employees sent back home

Jan 09, 2017

UPDATE: Staff are told to return home as investigations into Sunday's fire on the premises continue.

KAMPALA - There is heavy police deployment at the ministry of health headquarters in Kampala following Sunday's fire outbreak inside the main building.

Police forensic experts are carrying out investigations at the scene to try to establish the cause of the fire.

No injuries were reported, according to a statement released on Sunday.

Ministry spokesperson Vivian Sserwanja Nakaliika says the investigations are expected to be done in the shortest time possible so that work resumes.

She adds that save for Level 3B which was gutted by the fire, other levels and offices are being cleaned to prepare them for resumption of work.

 

For now, employees have been asked to go back home as they await a report on the fire.

The ministry's permanent secretary Dr. Diana Atwiine and state ministers of health Sarah Opendi and Dr. Joyce Moriku have talked to the ministry employees and told them to hang on for a while so that police complete their work.

Meanwhile, security remains tight, with restricted access to the premises. Access to the main building is denied.

Employees have been driven back home using a ministry bus.

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, police spokesperson Emilian Kayima said that the fire, which "started from a kitchen area", had been eventually contained by "our fire brigade and rescue services teams".

WHAT WAS DESTROYED

The police later updated on the situation, saying the fire "burnt to ashes quite many offices", which included:

  • Store for procurement
  • Office of health promotions
  • Office of sec quality assurance
  • Quality assurance office
  • Commissioner quality assurance office
  • Assistant commissioner quality assurance office
  • Assistant commissioner child health office, and
  • Secretary child health office

All these offices were on the same floor.

Godfrey Okobbo, the acting commissioner of fire and rescue services, said five offices were affected and stuff like documents and computers were destroyed.

He said no-one was injured, adding that the police would use CCTV footage to gather information about the cause of the fire.

The electricity was not affected and the cameras remained working through the fire, said Okobbo.


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