By Justice Irene Mulyagonja, a senior judge at the Constitutional Court, has publicly condemned the quality of healthcare at Mulago National Specialised Hospital, accusing the facility of negligence that she believes contributed to the death of her husband, John Bosco Kazoora.
Speaking during a church service following Kazoora’s passing on Saturday, May 17, Justice Mulyagonja gave an emotional account of what she described as “hospital tourism” a desperate journey between medical facilities in Uganda and abroad in search of affordable and competent care.
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“We started at IHK, then went to Zambia twice, then to Mulago, and ended up at Mukwaya General all within two months,” she said, recounting how soaring medical bills forced her to seek cheaper alternatives. “As a judge of the Court of Appeal, I couldn’t go around asking for money to treat my husband. We kept going lower.”
Justice Mulyagonja singled out Mulago Hospital for harsh criticism, claiming it lacked basic life-saving supplies and failed her husband in his final days.
“At the so-called National Specialized Hospital, you can fail to get insulin or an NG tube to feed a patient who can no longer eat,” she said. “They kept saying, ‘We’ll put in the tube,’ and then no one came back. Eventually, someone told us they didn’t have one.”
Justice Mulyagonja questioned how a national referral facility could operate without critical medical equipment or timely lab results. “A complete blood count takes 24 hours. Tests they can’t do, they ask you to go outside the hospital. It’s supposed to be a specialized hospital, but I think it’s just a monument.”
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Her comments strike at the heart of ongoing concerns about Uganda’s healthcare system, especially at public facilities. She warned that unless serious reforms are undertaken, the country’s health infrastructure will continue failing the most vulnerable.
“John fought for the rights of others. I’ve also fought for the vulnerable. He wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t speak out,” she said.
