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Design changes, delays push Mutuini Hospital launch to November
A view of the ongoing construction of Mutuini level 5 Hospital in Dagoretti South Sub-County, Nairobi, on August 27, 2025.
In March, President William Ruto visited the stalled Mutuini Level 4 Hospital in Dagoretti South, promising Sh230 million to complete the project and upgrade it to a Level 5 facility.
He directed contractors to resume work, pledging to return in August for the launch. Five months later, the deadline has passed. The contractor remains on site, with only 75 per cent of the work complete.
Hospital CEO Dr Martin Alfred Wekesa attributed the delay to major design changes, including adding male and female wards on the fourth floor, creating three more theatres, expanding dialysis services, and scrapping a planned morgue. Importation of a lift and ongoing plumbing and wiring works also slowed progress.
“The contractor is now working two shifts daily. By end of October, the site will be handed over, and the launch will be in November,” Dr Wekesa said.
The 325-bed hospital, supervised by the Ministry of Defence, will have 24 ICU beds, a 48-bed neonatal unit, and 16 dialysis beds, serving patients from Nairobi, Kikuyu, and Kajiado.
Mutuini Hospital CEO Dr Martin Wekesa Wafula during an interview at the Hospital in Dagoretti South Sub-County, Nairobi on August 27, 2025.
Dr Wekesa added that despite treating patients under the Social Health Authority (SHA), the hospital received no reimbursement in the latest allocation, leaving an unpaid claim of Sh50 million.
The CEO expects the increased number of beds and services to enable the facility to generate revenue for the county and the surrounding area.
Regarding the payment of claims from hospitals across the country, the CEO has urged the Ministry of Health to streamline its SHA system to ensure that all hospitals listed are benefiting.
He said that in the most recent payment, Mutuini Hospital received nothing from the government despite treating patients under the SHA, with a claim totaling Sh50 million.
“In the last allocation, we got zero payment. It is a big struggle. We have reached out to the authorities and we hope that things will be fixed. But continue to treat and approve patients under SHA, the only challenge is reimbursement,” Dr Wekesa said.
