By Nickson Fred Obuku
Authorities in Kiryandongo District have resolved to strengthen coordination among local governments, police and health authorities to address the growing number of unclaimed bodies piling up at Kiryandongo General Hospital mortuary.
The resolution followed a high-level meeting attended by district leaders, security officials, health workers and local government administrators on Tuesday after seven unclaimed bodies, some already decomposing, accumulated at the hospital.
Officials warned that the situation poses public health risks, strains local government resources and undermines the dignity of the deceased.
Bweyale Town Clerk Lydia Tusabe said local governments are struggling to meet the cost of burying unclaimed bodies.
“Each unclaimed body costs about Shs160,000 to transport and bury at the public cemetery,” she said, adding that the increasing number of bodies has placed an additional financial burden on district authorities.
Officials said many of the bodies are recovered by police following road crashes, illness or deaths under unclear circumstances. In many cases, relatives are either not traced or fail to claim the deceased.
Principal Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Denis Dacan urged town clerks and sub-county chiefs to work together to ensure timely burials and prevent prolonged storage of bodies at the mortuary.
“This challenge requires collective responsibility. We must strengthen coordination among local governments so that unclaimed bodies are buried promptly while we establish sustainable systems for handling such cases,” Dacan said.
Kiryandongo Central Police Station District Police Commander Stephen Ojok raised concerns about the risks faced by officers who retrieve bodies before medical examinations are conducted.
He urged local council leaders and landlords to maintain updated records of residents to ease identification of the deceased and tracing of next of kin.
“Every village and every landlord should know who is staying in their area. Proper registration can greatly assist police in tracing relatives whenever someone dies,” Ojok said.
He also proposed that medical personnel accompany police officers to scenes where bodies are recovered so that postmortem examinations can be conducted on-site where possible.
Kiryandongo General Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Kisembo Godfrey said responsibility for managing unclaimed bodies should not rest with the hospital alone.
He called on police and local leaders to mobilise communities to organise burials after mandatory postmortem examinations and proposed that the district prequalify a service provider to handle burials of unclaimed bodies.
District chairperson Nelson Osaga directed lower local governments to take responsibility for bodies recovered within their jurisdictions and organise timely burials to ease congestion at the hospital mortuary.
“The hospital should not continue bearing the burden of keeping decomposing bodies. Local governments where these bodies are found must organise for their burial in good time,” Osaga said.
He also urged Bweyale Town Council to operationalise its public cemetery to improve management of unclaimed bodies within the town.
Leaders attributed the growing number of unclaimed bodies to rapid population growth, high mobility, inadequate resident registration, poverty and limited funding for emergency burials.
They agreed that stronger collaboration among police, health facilities, local governments, landlords and village leaders, alongside improved resident registration systems and dedicated burial funding, would help ensure timely and dignified burials while safeguarding public health.
