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Police have claimed that they are unable to eject a group of goons who have taken over the disputed Nakuru War Memorial Hospital since February 1.

Nakuru County Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi, through State Counsel Alex Muthuri, told a court the police were yet to facilitate the reopening of the hospital.

Justice Anthony Ombwayo had on Monday ordered Ndanyi to provide security to the private management and stop any further invasion of the facility.

Ndanyi was served with a court order on Tuesday and was expected to implement it within 24 hours, a period which lapsed yesterday at noon.

Yesterday morning, the goons gathered outside the hospital as usual and was joined by young and old women.

At around 11am, a contingent of police arrived at the hospital in two vehicles. Minutes to 1pm, Ndanyi arrived at the facility accompanied by Muthuri. They found the gate still locked by the goons who kept shouting at them.

Ndanyi briefly surveyed the hospital and left.

Appearing before Justice Ombwayo, the hospital lawyer said the police had not complied with the court orders and that the hospital was still out of operation.

“We served the county police commander with the order. Unfortunately the order has not been implemented. We have not been able to access the hospital,” said Chomba.

The State Counsel defended Ndanyi saying they had visited the hospital but could not access it due to a large crowd gathered outside.

“The police could not disperse the crowd. They could not use teargas or fire in the air as the area a protected area,” said Muthuri.

He said the usual means of crowd dispersal could not be used at War Memorial due to its proximity to Nakuru State House, Nakuru Level Five Hospital Annex and Lenana Primary School.

Justice Ombwayo, however, dismissed the reasons given by the police and issued fresh summon to the county commander to appear in court.

“I am not convinced that a crowd can bar the police from conducting their duty. The commander is hereby summoned to appear before this court failure to which he will be cited for contempt,” ordered Ombwayo.
The county government and a private firm, which has been running the hospital, are in dispute over the extension of the latter’s lease for a further 50 years effective 2021.