Nakuru County now seeks control of War Memorial Hospital

Nakuru County now wants total control of the War Memorial Hospital, a privately owned healthcare facility it shut down last year due to a dispute over a land lease.

The move by Governor Susan Kihika's administration comes at a time when there is uproar over poor management of healthcare services in the county, especially at the Nakuru Level V Hospital.

The county has been embroiled in a legal battle with the hospital directors over who owns the 25-acre land in the posh Milimani estate, where the private health facility stands.

On Monday, the hospital's management informed the Deputy Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Lina Akoth, that the county had deployed its security personnel to man the facility.

According to Roger Joslyn, the chair of the hospital board of management, the county has also locked some of the hospital’s main offices and has the key to the main rooms and gates which they have allegedly refused to surrender.

He said they also denied the private management access to some critical parts of the hospital.

“The county government is frustrating the reopening of the hospital because it has failed to remove locks in some hospital premises and has deployed guards to man the same,” said Joslyn.

Joslyn said they have been unable to fulfill the Court of Appeal orders of October 1, 2024, which directed the immediate reopening of the hospital.

A three-judge bench had ruled that the hospital be reopened under a joint management of five board members; two from the hospital, two from the county, and one from the national government.

Joslyn said for the past six months, they have held several meetings and deliberated on the way forward, including settling Sh2.3 million electricity and water bills allegedly accumulated since its closure.

“Cleaning operations have been going on well since the reopening of the hospital was ordered on October 1, 2024. Since we cannot fully access the hospital, it is difficult to move to the next step of operating it,” said Joslyn

He indicated to the court that before passing a resolution, they put it to a vote, and what is decided by the majority goes.

He said they signed a consensus that after the hospital’s inventory was done, the county government would withdraw their security and leave the running of the hospital to private management.

He said that the board members, including county officials, signed an agreement, handing over the hospital to private management after its reopening.

However, the same is not the case, and the county government is allegedly frustrating the planned reopening of the hospital.

“Nothing in the hospital belongs to the county government, but they want to control it,” complained Joslyn.

County Secretary Samuel Mwaura said the Court of Appeal order meant that the hospital would be jointly managed.

He denied claims that the private management had been blocked from accessing some parts of the hospital.

Mwaura expressed concerns that there would be hiccups if they withdrew the security, and it would be in contravention of the court orders.

The court listened to the grievances but gave the parties until May 12 to resolve the issues.

The county has shown its interest in the control of the hospital since it first took over the management on the night of October 27, 2023.

According to its communication, the county government was allegedly planning to extend the Nakuru Level Five Hospital Annex (PGH), which is adjacent to the War Memorial Hospital.

The two hospitals are separated by a small gate and at times, patients are confused as to which hospital they are in.

The second attempt was on January 23, 2024, at 3 am, where they took over the hospital, vandalized CCTV footage, chased over 300 staff and closed it.

The county also filed a case before the Environment and Land Court claiming ownership of the land after the lease for the hospital allegedly expired in March 2021.

The court in Nyandarua ruled that the lease was procedurally renewed in April 2021 and ordered it reinstated. The court ordered the reopening of the hospital.

The county, through the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, also caused the arrest and arraignment of Joslyn and Mwangi, alongside five others.

In the pending criminal case, the seven are charged with forgery, abuse of office, and fraud, leading to the renewal of the hospital’s lease for 50 more years, effective April 2021.

“Are we going back or moving forward with the reopening. Can the board members sit down and agree on the way forward?” directed Akoth.

The case will be mentioned on May 12 for further directions.