The Executive Director of Butabika National Referral Hospital, Dr Juliet Nakku, has revealed that the country does not have a secure forensic psychiatry ward.
Appearing before the Committee on Health on Wednesday, 08 April 2026, Nakku called for urgent recruitment of forensic psychiatrists to handle complex cases of mental illness.
As she made mention of the case of a one Christopher Okello Onyum, who is said to have killed four toddlers at a day care centre in Ggaba, Nakku emphasised that specialists are critical in assessing suspects’ mental state, guiding courts on criminal responsibility and ensuring safe treatment of high-risk patients instead of unsafe detention in prisons or general wards.
She noted that other countries have forensic psychiatrists who support the justice system in handling offenders with mental illness.
“All of us have heard about the case that’s going on of a man who killed four babies. Those are matters that we need to be thinking about. This country does not have a secure forensic psychiatry ward, the entire country,” she said.
Asked whether the position of forensic psychiatrist exists within the public service structure, Nakku said the hospital has expanded its staffing structure to include associate and senior consultants in psychiatry, but funding constraints have hindered training.
A forensic psychiatrist assesses a suspect’s mental state at the time of the offence, evaluates their fitness to stand trial and provides expert testimony in court.
They also assess the risk of re offending, advise on appropriate management and guide the design and use of secure forensic psychiatry facilities.
In a related development, the growing mental health crisis among children also emerged as a key concern during the meeting.
Mbarara District Woman Member of Parliament, Hon. Margaret Ayebale urged Butabika Hospital to expand research into children’s mental health, pointing to changing social patterns that may be affecting their well-being.
“Have you tried to think about researching on the increased mental health in children as part of your research? Can we look at how children are being? There is a lot going on with children,” she said.
She cautioned against dismissing children’s behaviour as mere indiscipline, suggesting underlying psychological stressors.
“We might think children are becoming unruly because of liberty and freedom. But maybe things to do with whatever they are going through,” she added.
Nakku revealed findings from a recent study research that indicated a worrying trend among school-going children.
“One of the ones we did most recently was funded by the World Bank. We found almost 30 per cent of school going children that we reached aged 11 to 17, actually had a lot of emotional problems. That’s a huge figure,” she said.
She added that these challenges are already affecting academic performance.
“The children said these conditions are impacting their academic performance, which is something they need to think about as a country,” Nakku said.
She added that schools lack the capacity to handle mental health issues with many teachers unequipped to respond.
“We also found that there wasn’t much by way of services, and the teachers said they didn’t even know how to integrate mental health. They needed guidance,” she said.
To address the gap, Nakku said guidelines for integrating mental health into schools have been developed with support from UNESCO and the education ministry.
“These guidelines are now out, and the First Lady signed them this year. They are going to be used to train teachers, support parents on how to deal with children and help children understand mental health and support each other,” she added.
The committee chairperson, Dr Joseph Ruyonga, wondered whether underlying health and behavioural factors could be contributing.
