Former MP calls for speedy resolution as Nakuru War Memorial Hospital takeover row worsens

Nakuru

Monday November 6, 2023

KNA by Jane Ngugi and Dennis Rasto

The National Lands Commission (NLC) has been petitioned to intervene in the row between the Nakuru county government and War Memorial Hospital board over ownership of the 101-year-old War Memorial Hospital.

The takeover of the private facility by the County Government, according to immediate former Bahati Member of Parliament Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri, had exposed patients and over 200 members of staff to inexplicable suffering.

He termed the decision by the County Government to take over the facility as unlawful and an act of impunity.

At the same time, Mr Ngunjiri has accused a senior official of the County Government of interfering with the Ministry of Land’s process of demarcating and issuing title deeds to over 1000 members of Lari-Nyakinyua farm.

The former MP, while noting that the county government had no business interfering with the process, said the piece of land was bought by Lari-Nyakinyua Group in 1975 which was occupied by squatters who later formed Ruyobei Group and settled on the land.

Mr Ngunjiri who was flanked by Lari-Nyakinyua Group chairman Mr Peter Gachie indicated that with help of former president Daniel Moi the Ruyobei Group purchased a piece of same acreage at Oljorai and the two groups agreed to settle the dispute by swapping their title deeds.

“A senior county official has been intimidating Ministry of Lands officials who are on the ground trying to demarcate the land so that each member of Lari-Nyakinyua Group may occupy his portion. That should stop forthwith,” charged the former MP. 

On the War Memorial saga Mr Ngunjiri also faulted the hospital’s Board of Management noting that if the due process of the law was followed, when they acquired an extension of the lease for a further 50 years, effective April 2021, they would have been able to demonstrate that the facility deserved every inch of its current land.

Addressing journalists in Nakuru, the former law maker explained that Kenya’s founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta had in 1970 ordered part of the facility to revert to the public, a declaration that birthed Annex Hospital, while the remaining portion was to remain in private hands run by a board of trustees.

Mr Ngunjiri however indicated that the decision by the facilities management to renew the lease in 2021 under War Memorial Hospital Limited rather than War Memorial Trust had yielded legal loopholes that were being exploited by the County Government.

The former lawmaker said it was possible to remedy the legal loophole and hand the facility back to War Memorial Trust terming the night invasion inhumane and uncivilized.

“Within hours, patients’ lives were endangered, and over 200 hospital staff lost their jobs. Services at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital (main) have deteriorated, and if the county manages the War Memorial the same way, it will collapse,” he said.

Mr Ngunjiri explained that when former President Kenyatta declared the private land public in 1970 no legal process was followed to acquire the land, which led to the assumption that War Memorial Trust owned the land.

Constructed in 1922 Nakuru War Memorial Hospital was opened shortly after World War 1 by Norman Jewell to serve and commemorate troops both African and European. In the 1970s, the government took over part of the 25 acres which became Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital Annex.

Mr Ngunjiri stated that general rules of justice provided that individuals who hold the expired leases should have the first priority when it comes to renewal of the leases provided, they meet the set conditions, adding that actions by the County Government amounted to impunity.

“Nobody should fear the expired leases. So long as you have a current lease, even if it is expired, you should be the first person who receives the priority in the renewal unless you are unable to meet the conditions of the lease,” he said.

County Secretary Dr Samuel Mwaura has nevertheless maintained that the land has been reverted back to the government, following the de-gazettement of the Lease title given in the name of Nakuru War Memorial Hospital Limited.

Dr Mwaura noted that the Lease Title for the land was issued to the War Memorial effective May 1, 1922, for a period of 99 years. The same was supposed to lapse on April 30, 2021.

"Attempts by War Memorial to extend the lease in 2019 were turned down by Nakuru County," he said.

However, the county accuses the hospital of using forged payment certificates to acquire an extension for a further 50 years, effective April 2021.

Dr Mwaura insisted that the action of acquiring of the land was fraudulent, an issue under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI).

He said the county government successfully petitioned the Registrar of land to cancel the lease. The same was cancelled on May 19, 2023.

"We have written to the National Lands Commission to be issued with a certificate of land reservation," said Mwaura.

The county issued a warning to individuals, groups or companies illegally occupying public land to vacate or be evicted.

The takeover comes days after the management of War Memorial claimed it owned the entire 25 acres of land and both hospitals.

The management through Dr Simon Mwangi insisted that they have never been taken to court for the ownership.

Last week, the court allowed the directors of the facility to challenge its takeover by the county government.

Dr Mwangi moved to court, on behalf of members of the War Memorial Hospital board which owns the private health facility, questioning its takeover and closure, four days after the county government moved in.

At the heart of the legal battle is the ownership of the 11.5 hectares of prime land valued at Sh1 billion, which the hospital’s board says has a valid legal lease of 50 years.

On Tuesday evening, after obtaining temporary stay orders from Justice Millicent Odeny of the Nakuru Environment and Lands Court, Mwangi mobilized 50 hospital staff in an attempt to return to the facility.

Their efforts were, however, thwarted by the County Secretary Dr Mwaura, the County Executive Committee Member for Land John Kihagi and county enforcement officers who rejected the court order and barred them from accessing the hospital.

Justice Odeny’s ex parte orders suspended the decision by Nakuru Land Registry to cancel the Certificate of Lease held by the War Memorial on May 19, 2023.

"The national and county governments are restrained from investigating or revoking the lease on the land," ruled Odeny.

The judge granted the hospital 21 days to file a formal application before the court, challenging the cancellation of the lease.

She also granted the hospital staff permission to operate until the case is filed and heard in court.

"The applicant (War Memorial) has leave to operate as a stay until the substantive application against the takeover is filed,” ruled the judge.

The order gives the War Memorial possession of the hospital and Annex, which is under the county government since they occupy the same land.

On Friday last week, the county government, on the strength of the decision of the county assembly resolution, took over the hospital and shut it down on claims that it was standing on public land.

The hospital was then placed under the management of Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital Annex.

To lock the 50 staff from the facility, the county government erected a new gate and deployed enforcement officers to man it.

On Tuesday evening, there was a heated exchange between Dr Mwangi and Dr Mwaura over the court order, as the latter insisted that the order had to be verified first.

"Cases of fake orders are not new in Nakuru City. Because we were not present in court, we need first to confirm whether the order is authentic," said Mwaura.

However, when a court process server arrived, Mwaura declined to receive the order.

The director and the court server tried to pin the orders on Mwaura’s vehicle, but they were unsuccessful. They later pinned it at the hospital's gate.

“We have served the orders to the county attorney, and we tried to do the same to the county secretary, but he refused. We will now seek legal redress,” said Dr Mwangi.

Courtesy; KNA