Parliament has approved a motion permitting Kabale Regional Referral Hospital to sublease five acres of land to Kabale University, giving the institution the green light to expand its Faculty of Medicine.
Health Minister Dr. Ruth Aceng presented the motion during the parliamentary sitting held on Thursday, 31 July 2025. She noted that the land transfer would enable the university to construct modern medical facilities to support training and service delivery in southwestern Uganda.
“This is more than just a land transfer,” Aceng said. “It is an investment in building a robust healthcare system and a stronger medical workforce for the Kigezi sub-region and beyond.”
Kabale University first requested the land in August 2022. It plans to construct lecture halls, operating theatres, specialized clinics, and new patient wards. Aceng emphasized that the project will significantly improve both healthcare outcomes and medical training for a population of over 2.4 million people served by the referral hospital, including cross-border patients from Rwanda.
Currently, the university’s medical students are being trained in a dilapidated hospital structure that is due for demolition. Aceng said the new facilities will create a fully functional teaching hospital and foster critical research and innovation.
Koboko Municipality MP, Charles Ayume, supported the move, stressing the interdependence between hospitals and medical schools.
“A hospital benefits from the presence of medical students and lecturers,” Ayume said. “We had concerns about the standard of training in such run-down facilities, but this project will address that.”
Tororo District Woman MP, Sarah Opendi, welcomed the development but urged Parliament to address broader issues facing regional referral hospitals.
“Kabale Regional Referral Hospital remains a 100-bed facility, which is below the standard for a referral hospital,” she said. “Worse still, most of these hospitals are understaffed by up to 30 percent. This should be prioritized in the next budget.”
The approved sublease is expected to accelerate the transformation of medical education in southwestern Uganda while easing pressure on existing health infrastructure.
