A mortuary attendant, who is attached to Kasese Municipal Health Center III in the Nyamwamba Division of Kasese Municipality, has decried his low pay for a job he has been doing for over three decades.
Kasese Municipal Health Center III is a government facility located in Kasese town.
A mortuary attendant is a person who is responsible for the security and hygiene of dead bodies or corpses awaiting to be discharged from the health facility for burial.
Rwamanzan Musubaho, an old man in his 60s who claims to have worked in the mortuary for more than 30 years, says that the money he gets is so low compared to the responsibilities he is given and the cost of living.
He has told this reporter that on a quarterly basis, he earns two hundred thousand Shillings (Shs200,000) which translates to Shs66,700 monthly.
According to Musubaho, the money he is paid is not enough to help him meet his needs.
He also asked to government to provide him with the necessary protective equipment including reflectors, face masks, overalls, gloves, and gumboots, among others.
Responding to the concerns, James Mwirawabo, the facility’s in-charge acknowledged Musubaho’s low pay. However, he noted that that the complainant does not get salary from government but he is rather employed by a non-governmental organization.
Mwirawabo also reiterated the need for government to construct a spacious and fully facilitated mortuary to cater for the high numbers of the dead bodies that the facility receives from various parts across the district.
He categorically put it clear that the current mortuary, in its sorry state, can only accommodate eight corpses, but they are sometimes overwhelmed, especially on days when there are accidents, leaving them with no option but to place corpses on each other.
The mortuary attendant’s complaint is just one of the many problems and the rot in Uganda’s health sector. During the recent online health exhibition, a doctor in a government hospital revealed how Museveni’s sister was rushed to the facility after getting injured in an accident only to find there was no free bed for her. The doctor refused to remove patients to create space for the president’s sister who had to spend many hours on the floor. (Read Story Here).
Another doctor revealed how many patients died in one night during a doctors’ strike over salary increment. That as an intern on duty s/he was overwhelmed and had to choose who lives and who should die, and that some patients died because s/he was tired and made avoidable mistakes. (See Details Here).
You can also read about the story of teenage girls who were impregnated and some infected with HIV/AIDS and abandoned by foreign workers of a Sri Lankan company that was working on an electricity project Here.
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