KIGALI - Kigali University Hospital (CHUK) is holding the body of a 36-year-old man after his family failed to clear medical bills.

The deceased, Egide Ndikubwimana alias Kigingi was, according to relatives, admitted in CHUK, last week, after being bludgeoned on the head with a club while in a bar in Rwamagana town.

He died last Friday due to severe head injuries.

Hamza Musonera, a casual labourer, and a friend to the deceased said the hospital is demanding Rwf 450.000 before the body can be released from the morgue.

He appealed to the Rwamagana District authorities to help them secure the body for burial, saying the deceased’s widow and two children cannot afford to foot the bill.

The Director General of CHUK, Theobald Hategekimana, said that the hospital has been experiencing financial losses as a result of patients or their families’ failure to pay their bills after treatment or death.

He added that the hospital has had to deal with such cases before, where families to do not claim the body because of the bills owed, and the hospital administration ends up burying them

Dr Hategekimana urged people to get medical insurance to avoid such situations.  heavy bills.

"If the deceased had insurance, I am sure there wouldn't have be problems paying the bill,” he said. "In such circumstances, family members keep away, making the hospital incur more expenses on burial.”

Meanwhile, police has apprehended one person in connection with the fight that allegedly left Kabano wounded.

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