Chaos mars Sakaja launch of  health facility in Kariobangi

The battle for the control of Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital in Kariobangi has played out once again after the area MCA Joel Munuve questioned why the facility was handed over to the county.

The launch of the Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital in Kariobangi over the weekend was disrupted when fracas broke out.

The event presided over by Governor Johnson Sakaja ended up in chaos when goons struck, leaving several residents with injuries. Some were mugged and lost their valuables in the process.

The health facility located in Embakasi North was constructed by the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services but remained neglected for years.

After completion, the management of the facility was left to the national government through Kenyatta National Hospital. And now, residents and some local leaders are against plans to hand it over to the Nairobi county government.

The battle to control the health facility started in February after the area Member of County Assembly (MCA) Joel Munuve asked the assembly health committee to explain why the facility was being handed over to the county.

The MCA also sought to understand the plans the county government had put in place concerning the management of the facility and if there was any public participation over the same.

This was after Sakaja, in one of his addresses around that time, said there were plans to revert the management of the facility to the county government.

Even so, the process to transfer the facility did not stop until the announcement that the governor would be on the ground to open it.

On June 12 Munuve wrote to President William Ruto and Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha raising concerns from the area residents about the capability of the county to manage the Level Six hospital.

“The public has consolidated and appended signatures to have the hospital returned to Kenyatta National Hospital. The residents of Kariobangi North ward do not have faith in the county government’s capacity to run Mama Margaret Kenyatta hospital,” the letter, which was also copied to the governor, reads in part.

But Sakaja has insisted that the hospital belongs to Nairobi residents and it can serve everyone around from Kariobangi, Krogocho, Mathare, Babadogo and Lucky Summer. “Before, the facility had less than 20 people because it was only specialised paediatrics. Now, it is a fully fledged Level Five hospital for all Nairobi residents,” Sakaja said.

Munuve says the event was boycotted by the president and other senior ministry officials because of the concerns raised by the residents in the letter.

He says there has been another narrative by the county that the hospital is not in Kariobangi North Ward but in Korogocho.

“When I raised the questions in the assembly, the governor claimed that the facility is located at Korogocho and not in Kariobangi North. That was meant to muzzle my oversight role,” he said.

The MCA, who was elected on an independent ticket, says he is afraid the facility might not get special funds if it is left to the county government.

The facility commenced its operation in early 2022 when former President Uhuru Kenyatta inaugurated it as a children only facility. Meanwhile, county assembly health committee chairman Maurice Ochieng says the facility belongs to the county government since NMS ceased to exist.