Innocent Ahimbisibwe, the Gulu City Town Clerk has come to clarify that it’s the responsibility of Gulu regional referral hospital to keep unclaimed dead bodies.
This follows recent concerns by authorities that the city council takes long to bury unclaimed bodies.
In late December, there were about 12 unclaimed bodies at the hospital, some in a decomposing state which cause a foul stench at the facility.
But Ahimbisibwe says that Gulu regional referral hospital has a responsibility of ensuring that the unclaimed bodies are well kept for two weeks as required by the law.
He says that the hospital needs to budget more for chemicals to preserve dead bodies so that cases of bodies decomposing fast are addressed.
Majority of unclaimed bodies are victims of accidents, mob justice and sometimes drownings taken to the hospital by police.
Ahimbisibwe explained that the hospital is expected to trace for the relatives of the unclaimed bodies within the two weeks before the city council buries them at the public cemetery.
The city spends 170,000 shillings to bury each unclaimed body.
Justine Muboka
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