A 25-year-old Rwandan woman has been stranded for over a week at St. Francis Mutolere Hospital in Kisoro District after failing to raise funds to clear her maternity bill following the birth of her baby girl.
Musanase Brenda was admitted to the facility after experiencing labor pains and successfully delivered her child. However, she has been unable to settle the hospital bill, which initially totaled UGX 280,000. Recognizing her dire financial situation, the hospital management reduced the amount to UGX 100,000, but she is still unable to raise the money.
Musanase, who had been working as a bar attendant in Kekubo near the garage area in Kisoro Municipality, said she was residing in Kisoro Hill before her delivery. She claims that the man responsible for her pregnancy, only identified as Derrick, has since abandoned her and remains unreachable.
Fighting back tears, Musanase made a public appeal to well-wishers for financial assistance so she can pay her hospital bill and return to her family in Rwanda. She also revealed that her father disowned her upon learning of her pregnancy, and she has since lost all contact with him.
“I just want to go home with my baby. I have no money, no support, and no one to turn to,” Musanase pleaded.
Nahurira Vailet, a resident of Karumena Village in Kamonyi Ward, employed Musanase for two months at her bar in Kekubo. She recounted how she met Musanase when the young woman came seeking work. Nahurira said she was unaware of Musanase’s pregnancy until she advised her to seek a medical check-up.
“After the pregnancy was confirmed, her father refused to let her return to work. She later left my place, and a few days ago I was informed that she had delivered at Mutolere Hospital,” Nahurira explained.
Efforts to get an official comment from hospital authorities were unsuccessful by press time. As of now, Musanase remains at St. Francis Mutolere Hospital with her newborn daughter, clinging to the hope that a Good Samaritan will come forward to help her begin a new chapter in life.
This is not the first time the hospital has been reported for holding patients over unpaid medical bills. On February 3, 2025, a 48-year-old refugee woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dusabe Nyiramahirwe, was detained for three weeks at the same hospital after being unable to pay a medical bill.
Nyiramahirwe had been admitted following a leg fracture sustained from a fall into a well. After a week of treatment, she was issued a bill of UGX 302,000. Her husband, Uwimana Nyambona, managed to raise UGX 150,000 through manual labor, including digging gardens, but the hospital allegedly refused to release her until the full amount was paid.
These incidents have raised ongoing concerns about the rights of patients and the burden of medical debt in Uganda, amid growing calls for greater oversight and regulation of healthcare practices — particularly in facilities that serve vulnerable and low-income populations.
