A group of residents from the Greater Kilembe Sub-county stormed Kasese municipal offices on Friday afternoon demanding the relocation of Kilembe Mines Hospital from Kasese town to Bulembia Division.
The residents marched from the site where the hospital is expected to be relocated to Kasese town to ascertain what could have happened in the process of relocating the health facility. Kilembe Mines Hospital shifted to St. Michael Kindergarten, a facility owned by the Diocese of Kasese after the 2020 floods from River Nyamwamba that destroyed its structures.
On Friday, residents expected the facility to move to the new site that they had prepared in Bulembia Division adjacent to its former location. Kasese Municipality Mayor, Chance Kahindo confirmed the news of the relocations of the site, saying they were waiting for staff to report on duty at the new site.
After waiting for the equipment in vain, the residents decided to storm the Municipal Offices demanding an explanation from the concerned authorities. It took the intervention of the Mayor, Chance Kahindo and the Kasese Municipal Division Police Commander, ASP Samson Bagyenda to calm down the protesters.
Theophilus Tibihika, the Kasese Municipal Town clerk, later told the journalists that they would handle the relocation exercise in a phased manner and it would involve all stakeholders including the Ministry of Health. He also revealed that he visited the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kasese about the same.
He explains that the Bishop agreed that the relocation exercise should be done in a phased manner. Richard Bomera, the LC III Chairperson of Bulembia Division, said that very many people from the mountainous areas have been affected ever since the health facility was relocated to Kasese town after the 2020 floods.
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