When the ruling party’s interests take precedence over public health
The situation at Kirundo Hospital is alarming. The facility is paralyzed by a leadership vacuum, unpaid salaries for three months, and a severe shortage of medicines. Healthcare workers have been left on their own, and patients are the ones suffering the consequences.
At the root of this crisis is a series of internal political blockages within the CNDD-FDD party. The former director of the hospital, Dr. Prosper Nimubona, left for China in June 2025. He was temporarily replaced by Dr. Thierry Ndayiziga (Chief Medical Officer of the Kirundo Health District). Later on, a ministerial decree appointed Dr. Louise Ndihokubwayo as the new director of the institution. But shortly after her appointment, she was removed under pressure from local CNDD-FDD officials, who argued that she was not recognized as a member of the party. They reportedly told her: “Leave, we do not know you in our party.”
Since then, the hospital has been left without a qualified administrator authorized to sign the documents required for staff payment or the purchase of medicines. As a result:
Contract employees have not received their salaries for three months.
The hospital pharmacy is empty due to a lack of released funds.
Patients are no longer receiving proper care.
In response to this chaos, the organization King Umurundi Freedom condemns the dangerous politicization of the health sector and calls on the Minister of Public Health, Lyduine Baradahana, to take responsibility by urgently appointing a competent management team—one that is not subjected to partisan dictates—in order to restore Kirundo Hospital to proper functioning.