Kisoro leaders have resolved to petition the office of the Prime Minister for neglecting the district in the current period when its population has more than tripled due to hosting refugees from the democratic republic of Congo.
The resolution was made on Monday in an emergency meeting between district administrators, Kisoro hospital top leadership and representatives from Humanitarian agencies at Kisoro hospital boardroom to ascertain the cause of deaths among refugees and how to control them.
According to the Kisoro hospital acting medical superintendent Nkunda Benon, seven children of Congolese origin have died of malnutrition in the last two weeks while three women have died while in labour. He says that the major cause of the deaths is because the hospital has been overwhelmed by numbers which makes monitoring of patients limited.
The Kisoro District Health Officer, Dr Steven Nsabiyumva says that the workload for health workers has gone beyond capacity due to refugees who get transfers from Nyakabande holding centre and those in communities.
He said that the majority of the children are dying because they sleep on verandas while they are also hungry. He blamed the office of the Prime Minister (OPM) that has burned interested organisations to support the over 50,000 refugees that still live in communities.
He also revealed that refugees are joining the holding centre from communities to look for health care but they again get transferred to Kisoro hospital while the situation have worsened.
The Kisoro district UNHCR team leader, Ongwang Jimmy rubbished allegations that UNHCR is reluctant to support the health department because it funds and supervises all Humanitarian agencies in the district.
The Kisoro Chief administrative officer (CAO), Hajji Badru Mayanja cautioned agencies against operating out of the government-laid structures if their work must be recognised by the district. He said that he will not tolerate disconnected organisations and Civil servants who abscond from duty.
The angry Kisoro district LCV Chairman, Abel Bizimana said that he will not watch and see his people die of poor service delivery due to refugees who have been neglected by the office of the prime minister.
Among other resolutions include, auditing the staffing gap at Kisoro hospital, establishing a well-stocked nutrition clinic, CAO to begin a recruitment process and advocating for direct relief to asylum seekers outside camps and host communities.
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