Shs4bn Kisoro Hospital Isolation Unit Construction Stalls

What the report says

Construction of a Shs4.12 billion isolation unit at Kisoro Hospital has stalled despite being intended to strengthen the district’s response to infectious diseases and public health emergencies. According to Nile Post, the project was launched under the Uganda COVID-19 Response and Emergency Preparedness Project, with Geses Uganda Limited contracted to build the facility using government funding supported by the World Bank through the Ministry of Health.

The hospital superintendent, Dr Emmanuel Bahane, said the Ministry of Health is dealing with a payment dispute involving the contractor. He told Nile Post that only minor work, mainly plumbing, is still outstanding before the unit can be used. The article says the project was supposed to be finished in April 2025, but by October 2026 it remained incomplete, with the work described as about 80% done.

Nile Post reported that the facility missed several commissioning targets, including a planned handover in September 2025, a proposed visit by President Yoweri Museveni in November 2025, and another commissioning plan in April 2026 involving Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine. An additional target in August 2026 also passed without completion.

Bahane said the finished unit would help reduce referrals to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, about 75 kilometres away, and ease pressure on Kisoro Hospital during outbreaks. The delay leaves the hospital without an important isolation facility at a time when it handles regular cases and periodic surges in infectious disease-related admissions.