Published on 10/12/2025
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is celebrating a major achievement after Kisenyi Health Center IV was named the best-performing public Health Center IV for the 2024/25 financial year, reaffirming the Authority’s leadership in urban health service delivery.
The award was announced during the 31st Annual Health Sub-Program Joint Review Mission (JRM) at Speke Resort Munyonyo, a national platform that evaluates progress toward universal health coverage.
Kisenyi, one of eight KCCA-run facilities offering free health services to city residents, has consistently ranked among the country’s top performers. Its latest recognition adds to a growing list of awards earned through strong management, expanded service points and steady improvements in patient outcomes.
KCCA Executive Director Hajjat Sharifah Buzeki, speaking during a panel on integrated and efficient service delivery, said the award shows what is possible when leadership, planning and community-focused investment come together.
“KCCA is building a health system designed for a fast-growing, high-pressure urban environment,” she said. “We need integrated facilities that respond to the realities of informal settlements, and we must upgrade service levels beyond Health Center IIs and IIIs. Kampala needs facilities that match its population.”
With morethan 70% of Kampala’s population seeking services from private facilities because of limited public facilities, Buzeki encouraged urged stronger regulatory oversight to protect vulnerable households.
Buzeki further encouraged community health insurance models, particularly among organized groups such as Boda Boda associations and called for reintroducing community health workers in Kampala.
“If communities can save for burial, save for parties, they can save for health,” she added.
She also championed technology as a tool for expanding access.
“We have to take health information where people already are, online, on their phones, even on TikTok. Telemedicine must be part of Kampala’s future,” she said.
The ED further emphasized integrated urban planning, warning that poor drainage, unregulated settlements and roads without walkways or cycling lanes increase public-health risks.
“To the new cities; health services must be planned before informal settlements expand. We have to think ahead,” she said.
Other national experts echoed KCCA’s calls for better financing, coordinated planning and strengthened regional services to reduce pressure on Kampala’s health system.
Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine congratulated the best-performing institutions, saying leadership and governance continue to drive improvements.
“It is not enough to know the gaps. We must fix them,” she said.
Other national health leaders echoed calls for better financing and improved coordination.
Paul Onzuma, District Health Officer (DHO) for Maracha and Vice President of the District Health Officers Association, called for increased funding to local governments.
“Local governments manage most frontline services, immunisation, maternity, primary care. Financing must improve to at least 40 percent of the health budget. We need to get back to the drawing board,” he said.
Dr Alfred Yayi, Senior Consultant at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, praised the Ministry of Health for integrating specialised and primary care services, but appealed for more support to strengthen regional hospitals.
“We need to reduce unnecessary referrals to Kampala. Regionalising services and investing in infrastructure will reposition regional referral hospitals as centres of excellence,” Yayi said.
For KCCA, the national recognition of Kisenyi Health Center IV underscores its ongoing push to modernize urban health care, expand service quality and build a stronger, more resilient health system for all Kampala residents.
