Parliament Questions Mulago Hospital Over Shs150,000 Mortuary Charges

What the report says

Parliament’s Health Committee has raised concern over reports that families grieving relatives who died at Mulago Hospital were asked to pay as much as Shs150,000 to retrieve the bodies from the mortuary. According to Nile Post, the committee summoned hospital officials on Tuesday to answer questions about the alleged charges.

The hospital officials reportedly denied that such payments were being demanded, but committee chairperson Dr Julius Rude Monday said MPs had carried out their own checks and found that some families were still being charged. He described the practice as unacceptable and said bereaved families should not be asked to pay to collect the bodies of relatives who died while receiving care at the facility.

Rude warned that Parliament would not accept misleading explanations from hospital management and said those involved in collecting money from families could face arrest and prosecution. The committee said it has prepared a report based on its findings and expects to use it to establish what happened and determine accountability.

The issue matters because it touches on hospital accountability, patient and family rights, and public confidence in Uganda’s largest national referral hospital. More broadly, mortuary and release-fee disputes have periodically surfaced in health systems in the region, often prompting calls for clearer procedures and oversight, though the Nile Post report focused on the Mulago case.