Written By | Victory Twesigyemukama
80-year-old Selungo was once resettled by Kkottongnea, a Korean international organization, based in Kiruhura before he escaped. [Photo: Victory Twesigyemukama]
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MBARARA CITY – Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) is grappling with a growing number of homeless and destitute people seeking shelter within its wards, stretching already limited resources and raising concerns about patient discharge and social support systems. Hospital administrators say many of the homeless are dropped off by police officers, brought in by Good Samaritans, or arrive on their own seeking medical help — but have nowhere to go after treatment.
One of them is 80-year-old Vincent Selungo, who has been living at the region’s largest referral facility since mid-November 2025. Selungo, believed to be from either Mubende or Mityana district, was initially treated in Lyantonde for benign prostate hyperplasia, a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate.
Though his condition no longer requires hospitalization, Selungo remains at the facility because he has no home to return to. He now urinates through a catheter inserted in his abdomen and survives by sleeping on a donated mat and begging passersby for food.
“I don’t know where to start because all my family members abandoned me,” he says quietly.
Shaban Ahimbisibwe, 40, from Masha Sub-county in Isingiro District, tells a similarly painful story. Currently admitted to the medical ward with tuberculosis (TB), Ahimbisibwe had been surviving by digging in people’s gardens in Kakoba Division, a suburb of Mbarara City, before a neighbour rushed him to hospital after months of untreated illness. Originally from Rwanda, Ahimbisibwe says he has lost contact with his relatives.
“By the time I left Rwanda, all my contacts were lost when my phone broke. When I call my wife in Isingiro, she hangs up,” he recounts.
In the surgical ward lies 15-year-old Emmanuel Mugisha, a street-connected child from Kajaho in Isingiro District. Mugisha has been hospitalized since January 2026 after surviving a road accident at the Mbarara bus park. With no stable home and limited family support, his discharge remains uncertain.
Hospital officials warn that such cases are becoming more frequent, effectively turning the referral facility into a temporary shelter for vulnerable individuals. Health workers say while medical care can be provided, the absence of structured resettlement mechanisms leaves patients occupying beds long after they are medically fit for discharge. As the numbers grow, MRRH faces a difficult balancing act: delivering critical healthcare while informally absorbing a deepening social crisis unfolding beyond its gates.
Torch Media Africa
