By Elijah Khisa
Residents of Kyengera and surrounding communities in Wakiso District have called on the government to provide an ambulance to Kyengera Health Centre III to support emergency medical services, including deliveries and other critical cases.
The residents made the call over the weekend during a free medical camp organised by the St. Yakobo Mugongo Catholic Sub-Parish Catholic Men’s Guild under Kyengera Catholic Parish.
The medical camp was part of the guild’s community awareness programme ahead of its upcoming celebrations.
Dozens of patients received free medical services provided by medical teams from Kyengera Health Centre III, Mother of Mercy Hospital and the Mengo Hospital Rotary Blood Bank.
While appreciating the initiative by the church, some patients raised concerns about the lack of an ambulance at the health facility.
Jessica Namuwaya, one of the patients, appealed to the health centre officials who attended the camp to push for government support, saying the facility serves a large catchment area with hundreds of patients seeking medical attention.
The facility’s data officer, Luyasa Namuwonge, confirmed that Kyengera Health Centre III does not have an ambulance despite receiving more than 100 expectant mothers seeking delivery services.
She said the facility also lacks a theatre, which limits its capacity to handle complicated deliveries and other emergencies.
Namuwonge appealed to the government to equip the health centre with essential facilities, including an ambulance, additional health workers, medical supplies and other technical logistics.
Meanwhile, the leader of the laity at St. Yakobo Mugongo Catholic Sub-Parish, Kyengera Parish, Paul Magembe Walugembe, called on Christians, friends and well-wishers to support their resource mobilisation drive aimed at raising Shs280 million for the construction of a rental housing project.
Magembe said the project is the sub-parish’s flagship income-generating initiative and will involve the construction of furnished, modern rental housing units.
He thanked the medical teams and other stakeholders for supporting the medical camp, saying the initiative had helped create awareness in the community ahead of the sub-parish celebrations scheduled for September 27, 2026.
He added that the sub-parish also plans to support the establishment of a fully fledged vocational skills training workshop to equip young people with professional skills that can enable them to create employment for themselves.
The medical camp offered a range of services, including HIV/AIDS testing, screening for diabetes and hypertension, cervical and prostate cancer screening, dental and gynaecological services, malaria testing and treatment, as well as blood donation.
Annet Namirembe, the team leader at Mengo Hospital Rotary Blood Bank, said more than 50 units of blood were collected during the exercise.
She thanked the sub-parish leadership for providing an opportunity for the blood donation drive and urged residents to embrace voluntary blood donation whenever the need arises.
The administrator of Mother of Mercy Hospital, Sister Maria Goretti Namuwulya, said that although the facility was founded by the Catholic Church, it operates as a not-for-profit hospital.
She said the hospital provides medical services at subsidised fees through a cost-sharing arrangement designed to make healthcare more accessible to people, particularly those from low-income urban communities.
Namuwulya urged residents to utilise the facility, saying it has qualified and experienced medical personnel capable of providing a range of essential clinical services.
