CANKUZO, March 19th (ABP) – The Kigamba reference hospital will be operational this year, according to the Minister of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS, Mrs. Lyduine Baradahana, during a joint visit with the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mrs. Brigitte Mukanga Eno, on Friday, March 14, 2025. While this hospital was handed over to the Government of Burundi through the Ministry of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security in April 2024, it is not yet operational.
During the visit made in the framework of seeing how the equipment should be installed in various services, Minister Baradahana indicated that this delay is due to a lack of staff in all services. According to Mrs. Baradahana, now that the budget is available, work will have to begin before the end of 2025 with the few staff available.
Regarding certain premises whose construction stopped at the foundation stage and so many other irregularities noted, the Minister of Public Health promised that the government will take charge of them. This hospital, which was built by the UNHCR as part of its support to the government in its response to the inclusion of refugees and returnees in national systems, and its equipment cost more than one million US dollars, according to Mukanga Eno.