Mortuary attendants at Fort Portal referral hospital Buhinga are in the spot light for levying illegal fees on bodies kept in the mortuary.
The attendants charge 20,000 shillings for every corpse that has been stored in the mortuary, something that is angering relatives of the dead.
When Uganda Radio Network went to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon, there were five people outside the mortuary who had come to collect bodies of their relatives but were stranded after they were denied the bodies because they did not have money.
One of them Damalie Kateba, a resident of Rwimi Sub County says that the corpse of his uncle has been in mortuary since Saturday. Kabasweka says that when she went to the mortuary on Sunday to collect the body for burial, she was told by the mortuary attendant to bring 20,000 shillings.
Looking depressed, Kateba says that she was forced to go back and look for the money but she managed to raise 15,000 shillings which she paid to the attendants. This afternoon, the attendants gave the corpse to Kabasweka.
Kabasweka says that it is unfair for the attendants to demand for money and yet she will spend much money transporting the corpse to Bushenyi for burial.
Uganda Radio Network also saw two people bargaining with the attendants to reduce on the costs charged. Frank Kayondo, a resident of Kabende parish in Kisomoro Sub County who was at the mortuary to collect the corpse of his daughter paid 15,000 shillings after bargaining with the attendants, but was not given a receipt.
When the Uganda Radio Network reporter, who pretended to be a relative to Kayondo asked why they were demanding money, one of the attendants who was dressed in a yellow uniform said that it was the policy by the hospital to charge whoever keeps bodies there.
When the reporter demanded for a receipt, the attendant who did not want to reveal his names said that the receipts were finished.
But in a telephone interview, Charles Olar, the Medical Superintendent Fort Portal referral hospital says that he has not been aware of what has been going on at the mortuary. Olar says that since it is a government hospital, the mortuary services are free of charge. He says that he will investigate the matter.
