Overview:
Their situation only began to improve on Sunday when a relative, Michael Lotee, arrived to help translate and understand why their one-and-a-half-year-old son, who has a kidney condition, had not received treatment.
A family from the remote village of Losimit in Nabilatuk District is stranded in the waiting lounge at Mulago National Referral Hospital after spending nearly a week without medical treatment for their critically ill child. Lokwang Lokong Loyor and his wife, Esther Naput, arrived at Mulago last Thursday, February 12, after being referred from Moroto Regional Referral Hospital.
However, unable to speak Luganda or English — the dominant languages at the facility — the couple struggled to communicate with medical staff and navigate the system. Their situation only began to improve on Sunday when a relative, Michael Lotee, arrived to help translate and understand why their one-and-a-half-year-old son, who has a kidney condition, had not received treatment.
According to Lotee, the child has undergone some procedures, but the parents have received little information from the medical staff. The boy has since spent several nights lying on the floor of the hospital’s waiting lounge with a distended stomach, while treatment continues to be delayed. After five days without being attended to, the first blood samples taken on Tuesday were reportedly misplaced.
The child was taken for another blood test on Wednesday, but even then, no feedback was given. “On Tuesday, they took blood samples, but those were misplaced. Today, another doctor took more samples, but nobody came back to us with results. We had to search for the doctor ourselves at 3:30 PM just to hear anything,” Lotee said on Wednesday evening.
When they finally reached the doctor, they were informed that the child would not be attended to until February 23. Despite having no place to stay in Kampala and a child who can barely swallow water, the family was denied a hospital bed due to a lack of space. They remain in the waiting area with their luggage, unsure whether to return home or remain in Kampala with limited resources.
The situation reflects wider systemic challenges at Mulago. Even patients at the Private Wing experience delays. At the outpatient department, 76-year-old Lucy Nakate, a diabetic patient from Gayaza, arrived at 9:00 AM but was not attended to until midday despite being able to pay for services. She described the process as “hectic” and “difficult.”
Hospital spokesperson Gladys Baligonzaki Kajura acknowledged the pressure on the facility, citing severe understaffing. Mulago currently operates at about 57 percent of its required staffing levels. “Our medical teams are down… the staffing levels clearly indicate we are understaffed,” Kajura said.
“It implies our staff overwork and stretch beyond the hours they should work. Some areas we end up not covering because we are overwhelmed by numbers.” While the hospital attributes some congestion to walk-in patients, the family from Nabilatuk is a legitimate referral that appears to have fallen through administrative gaps.
In his 2025 report, Auditor General Edward Akol warned that low staffing levels in public institutions continue to undermine health service delivery — a reality reflected in the experience of this young child now sleeping on a hospital floor while awaiting treatment.
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