Kampala — The Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services for People with Disability in Uganda (CoRSU Hospital), alongside corporate partners, government representatives, and disability advocates, at the weekend gathered at the MUBS Sports Ground for the 3rd annual CoRSU Disability Walk. The nationwide fundraising campaign aims to raise UGX 400 million to provide life-changing surgical and rehabilitation care for 100 children living with physical disabilities.
The walk was officially flagged off by Lord Mayor Balimwezo Ronald, alongside Chief Walker Rotarian Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa, Second Deputy Premier (Katikkiro) and Minister for Finance, Investments, Planning, and Economic Development in the Buganda Kingdom.
This year’s fundraising target directly addresses Uganda’s growing demand for paediatric orthopaedic and rehabilitation care. Currently, close to 300 children remain on surgical waiting lists every year due to inadequate funding. Each child supported through this campaign requires an average of UGX 4 million for surgery, therapy, assistive devices, and follow-up rehabilitation. Achieving the UGX 4 million per child target will reduce CoRSU’s annual backlog of unfunded surgeries by approximately 33 percent.
Lord Mayor Balimwezo Ronald emphasized the crucial role of maternal health and accessible public infrastructure:
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“As leaders, we must address disability from both prevention and accessibility perspectives. I strongly encourage all mothers and expectant parents to prioritize antenatal care throughout pregnancy. Timely medical attention and health checks during pregnancy are vital to ensuring the health of mothers and bringing healthy children into the world. Furthermore, as our towns and cities grow, we must ensure that our infrastructure is genuinely inclusive. From public buildings to urban roads, our physical spaces must accommodate persons with disabilities so that every citizen can navigate society with dignity, safety, and independence.”
Chief Walker Rotarian Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa commended CoRSU Hospital and its key partners including fireworks advertising, Brainchild Burson, EMKA Foundation, DTB, Vivo Energy Uganda, Finn Church Aid Uganda, Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Crown Beverages Limited (Pepsi & Nivana), Great Outdoors, Smile Train, Humanity & Inclusion, and the Uganda Development Corpo ration (UDC), for driving sustained action on disability inclusion:
“Every child deserves the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and productive life regardless of their circumstances. Today’s event demonstrates what can be achieved when leaders, civil society, the private sector, and communities work together to remove barriers for children living with disabilities.”
Highlighting the commitment of key corporate partners, Walter Wafula, CEO of fireworks advertising, stated: “At fireworks Advertising, we believe that meaningful partnerships move people and bring positive transformation to our country. We are therefore very proud to partner with CoRSU to host this year’s Disability Walk and to support its mission of bringing hope, dignity and opportunity to children living with disabilities.”
He added, “We encourage more Ugandans and organisations to join us to give affordable healthcare, bring hope and smiles to children with disabilities.”
Robert Ochai, Chief Executive Officer of CoRSU Hospital, noted that the walk represents an ongoing commitment to accessibility and care: “Since CoRSU’s founding, our institution has stood on the belief that disability must never mean inability. Behind every child waiting for surgery is a family waiting for hope. According to national data, 12.5 percent of Uganda’s population lives with a disability, yet 80 percent of childhood disabilities can be prevented or managed through timely specialized care. Every contribution made today translates into a child walking again, returning to school, and gaining independence.”
Building on the success of the 2025 edition, which raised over UGX 71 million and enabled 17 children to receive surgeries and 83 others to access rehabilitation and specialized care, the 2026 walk reinforces CoRSU’s long-standing community impact. Since its establishment in 2006, CoRSU Hospital has performed more than 70,000 surgeries and rehabilitated over 100,000 patients, delivering an average of 5,246 surgical procedures and 12,500 therapy sessions annually.