Gulu army closes mortuary to public

The UPDF 4th Division command in Gulu District has temporarily closed a morgue in the barracks from the public to allow refurbishment.

Cpt Hassan Kato, the division spokesperson, last week said the public will have to wait until the rehabilitation works are complete.

“We are not closing the morgue from the public, we are only rehabilitating it, and will resume operations after a month,” Cpt Kato said.

He said the UPDF Engineering Brigade will carry out the renovations.

“We intend to fix the electricity system, the fridge, and the appearance of the structure,” Cpt Kato said.

The morgue at the Gulu Military Hospital in Bar-Dege-Layibi Division has been serving the region for the last 10 years.

To date, the facility (morgue) accommodates the highest number of bodies compared to morgues at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and Lacor Hospital in a given month.

Many people reportedly prefer to bring bodies of their loved ones to the facility because it does not charge any fees.

While services at morgues in public hospitals are free, in July last year, this newspaper carried a report indicating that people were being charged hefty sums of money for keeping the bodies of their dear ones in the Gulu Regional Referral hospital’s morgue.

For example, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, several people were reportedly charged more than Shs600,000 before releasing the bodies.

The hospital authorities later confirmed that there are other similar reports of staff charging the public at the morgue.

Limited space, lack of refrigeration services as well as poor standard tables for postmortem and laboratories for testing specimens pose great challenges to the efficient running of the morgues. Other challenges include inadequate personnel to man the buildings and preservation rooms.

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