Health 14 April 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Patients at Nwoya's Kochgoma Health Centre Share Wards with Deceased Bodies Amid Mortuary Shortage
At Kochgoma Health Centre III in Nwoya District, the absence of a mortuary means patients in maternity and children's wards sometimes share space with unclaimed bodies, causing psychological distress. Staff resort to makeshift storage and backyard burials when relatives fail to collect the deceased. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/nwoya-health-centre-where-patients-share-wards-with-the-dead-5421946
Kochgoma Health Centre III in Nwoya District faces a dire situation due to lacking a mortuary, forcing patients in maternity and children’s wards to share proximity with deceased bodies awaiting collection.
In November 2025, visitor Jacky Auma, 54, encountered a strong odour and learned that bodies were stored behind makeshift partitions in the same building. “It was frightening… having a body so close affects them psychologically,” she shared.
Recently, the centre buried an unidentified farm worker from Koch Lii Sub-county in its backyard after four days, as no relatives claimed him. A medical officer noted the man, a Langi tribesman, died from accident injuries.
Health Centre IIIs lack morgues by design, meant to refer critical cases elsewhere, but migrant workers without ID or kin complicate matters. Friends often abandon patients, leaving staff stranded with bodies.
Senior clinical officer Lilly Grace Ayamo confirmed bodies are kept near wards, visible to patients and causing fear. In one case, an unconscious young man died unaccompanied and was buried after unclaimed, with district and police approval.
Local leader Geoffrey Obama has appealed for a simple separate structure, but District Health Officer Dr James Okello insists policy prohibits mortuaries at this level, expecting transfers to hospitals like Anaka or Gulu—hindered by one district ambulance.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)