New low as Mugenda, VC tussle over hospital reign

The fight for the control of Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) sunk to a new low yesterday after differences between the institution’s Vice Chancellor Paul Wainana and the board chairperson Olive Mugenda played out before MPs yesterday.

While Wainana demanded the hospital which former President Uhuru Kenyatta gazetted as a parastatal reverts to the university as the institution was not involved in the said decision, Mugenda insisted that the hospital should be allowed to continue operating in the current status as it would be hard for the university to run a level six hospital.

Their differences played out on the day Attorney General Justin Muturi told MPs who sit in the National Assembly Public Investment Committee on Governance and Education that three Cabinet Secretaries Ezekiel Machogu (Education), Susan Nakhumicha (Health) and Prof Njuguna Ndung’u (Treasury) be put to task for failing to act on House resolutions that recommended that the hospital be reverted to Kenyatta University.

The health committee and the Implementation committees of the National Assembly in the 12th Parliament had recommended that the facility reverts to the university but the resolutions are yet to be effected.

Said Muturi: “The Ministry of Education, Treasury and Health should come back to Parliament and explain difficulties they faced in implementing Parliamentary recommendations.”

Muturi’s sentiments came after the VC told the committee members that the current wrangles emerged after Mugenda was asked to oversee the operationalization  of the hospital in 2019 despite the university having constructed and equipped the entire facility.

Students seek alternatives

 He said that since then, Kenyatta University students have not been able to access the facility and have been forced to seek alternatives at Kiambu hospital adding that despite the hospital sitting on KU land, the university has also not been allocated any offices in the new buildings.

In 2019, the then Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua convened a meeting comprising the National Treasury, Health and Education ministries with the exclusion of the management of Kenyatta University and a decision was made to have the hospital declared a parastatal, effectively de-linking it from the university.

Said Wainaina: “In 2016, this is when the professor (Mugenda) left and I took over in acting capacity knowing very well that the hospital was part of this university. When Mugenda left as KU VC, the hospital was still a shell and as a university, we completed it and equipped it, but this all changed in 2019 when an order came that the hospital was no longer under the university and we were told to hand over, even the contractors were told to hand over and all this time we were not involved in this process.”

He added: “From records, the hospital was primarily for Kenyatta University and that is why everything was geared towards that. It is really a misnomer to have the hospital built on Kenyatta University land and yet the students are not enjoying the facility ….as for me I believe that vetting the hospital back to the university which was the original plan would be the best decision for us.”

Level Six hospital

But in her response, Mugenda said that the university should not be left to manage a level six hospital as it lacks capacity to do so.

Mugenda in her submissions before the committee further defended herself saying the decision to have her manage the hospital came from the then Education Cabinet Secretary, the late Prof George Magoha who asked her to forego a sabbatical that she was to take to manage the hospital as nothing much was happening.

She said: “the running of such a hospital that is level six and a university is not a good idea.  Even other hospitals controlled by universities are run differently. The management of the hospital is better left to be in the status of a referral.”

She added: “the VC was my deputy for five years and we worked together very well as colleagues and the issues we are facing now came up when the hospital was made a parastatal.

Students train at hospital

Mugenda told the MPs that for the students to train at the hospital, they are required to apply to the medical board to access training services.

“They have to write to the medical board and the nursing council to use the facility for learning purposes. It is just a procedure,” she told the committee.

Answering questions about the education background of the Chief Executive Ahamed Dagane after MPs queried his qualifications, Mugenda she admitted that Dagane is a registered nurse and not a medical doctor as required by the law.

Although the law requires that a Level Six hospital be managed by a medical doctor, Mugenda cited a court ruling that opened the window for any health professional to land the position.

The Health Act, 2017 requires that Level 4 to 6 which is a Primary Hospital, Secondary Hospital and Referral Hospital respectively be run by a registered medical practitioner with a Master degree in a health-related field and with a training experience of over ten years in senior management.