Grumbling and comedy filled Islamic University In Uganda [IUIU]’s (main campus, Mbale) Health Center (a health facility serving the whole university and surrounding community) after staff at the facility refused to take accept the corpse of a one Amos Kaziba, a second year law student at the same university who succumbed to food poisoning on Thursday morning at the Mbale Regional referral hospital at 11:00am.
According to a room mate who preferred anonymity before talking to this reporter, the deceased did not want to be taken to the institution’s health center for reasons of its bad reputation amongst students as it lacks drugs and its staff are alleged to be incompetent and unprofessional. The student died after they had just arrived at Mbale regional referral hospital after doctors took long to attend to him. His corpse was then immediately returned to campus by his colleagues without being treated- as it is very costly to treat a corpse at the referral Hospital. Their only option was to take the corpse to the university health centre for treatment.
The corpse was brought into campus by the university ambulance and paraded at the health center entrance where a hundreds of students were awaiting its arrival to view and pay there last respects.
However, the students were shocked by one of the staff who in a loud piercing voice shouted, “Take away your body, we do not have the necessary medicine to treat and keep a corpse here, take it back to the main hospital.”
According to one of the staff members, they don’t have the necessary treatment for the corpse because they have not had such a case since she joined hence deemed it unnecessary as their complicated cases are immediately referred to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital for further management.
Despite several trials by some influential students and the Guild President Ismael Makko Muzamiru who promised to buy the necessary medicine if the body is allowed in, the corpse was denied entry and by press time, it had been driven to the Municipal mortuary for treatment and storage awaiting the arrival of the deceased’s relatives.
It’s policy that when such incidents occur, the corpse is to be transported back to the university health center awaiting its pickup by relatives within a duration of 12 hours. Burial will be in Idudi, Bugiri District. May the Deceased soul RIP