Why KCCA is closing Kiruddu Hospital, 3 years after construction

Following several complaints from residents of Makindye over sewage from Kiruddu Hospital, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has notified the management that the hospital is to be closed.

According to the notice of closure signed by the director of public health, Dr. Daniel Okello, the move is intended to avert the spread of diseases, like cholera.

KCCA signed a memorandum of understanding with Mulago National Referral Hospital administration, to manage and maintain facilities at Kiruddu, hitherto a health centre IV, pending Mulago's rehabilitation. KCCA's notice dated April 26, stated that the facility has become a nuisance to the community, something which they say Mulago management has failed to control.

In the notice, the project management unit of the health ministry has also been asked to intervene in the matter before legal action is taken. "Take notice that unless the term of the notice is complied with, legal proceedings will be taken against you without further notice," the notice reads. The KCCA director of corporate affairs, Peter Kaujju, said the authority does not want to cause problems to the community as there is an outbreak of cholera in the city.

Mulago speaks out

By press time, the hospital administrators had neither responded to KCCA's notice nor stopped the sewage overflow. Mulago director Dr. Byarugaba Baterana could not comment on the issue, saying he was in a meeting.

Residents speak out

Sarah Nakku, who lives a few metres from the hospital, said ever since the hospital was constructed, they have been experiencing bad smell. She said if Mulago cannot control its sewage system, KCCA should then close the facility. Another resident who preferred anonymity said: "When the hospital had just been opened, we were all happy of the new development, but now we are cursing. The Government should take care of all its citizens.''

Background

The hospital was constructed at a cost of $10.3m (about sh26b) loan from the African Development Bank. Completed in December 2015 and upgraded from a health Centre IV to hospital status, Kiruddu has capacity for 170 in-patients. The number of patients has, however, exceeded that capacity, catering for patients from as far as the Islands of Katosi who use boats to land at Ggaba beach.

Its services range from general medical care, different consultancy in ear, nose and throat, children's clinics, general surgery and a private wing. The 14 clinics that Mulago relocated under the department of medicine and burns unit to Kiruddu are hypertension, thyroid, diabetes, kidneys, heart problems, infectious diseases, skin problems, diseases of the brain, lungs and burns.