Ongoing plans to transfer the Mama Margaret Uhuru Hospital Annexe (MMU-KNH) from the national government to the Nairobi County government have raised the eyebrows of one of the county assembly members in Nairobi.
The facility, located in Embakasi North Constituency, is under the management of Kenyatta National Hospital as one of its satellites.
The MMU-KNH facility is a level 6 children's hospital which commenced operations on March 18, 2022, when the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta inaugurated it as a children's only facility.
The facility was completed by the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) after many years of neglect by previous administrations.
The statement by Kariobangi North County Assembly member Joel Munuve seeks answers from the Assembly's health committee, Maurice Ochieng, on the plans the county has put in place to manage the facility.
The MCA wants to know why the facility is being handed over to the county, and if there was any public participation before the decision was made, as Kenyans and Nairobi residents need to have their say on the facility.
"What were the circumstances that led to the request for transfer, and does the county government have the capacity to effectively manage the hospital?" Munuve asked, citing Article 43(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to the highest attainable standard of health services.
This includes the right to health services, including reproductive health services.
"During the Governor's address, while highlighting the state of the county, the Governor stated that a formal agreement to return Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital to Nairobi County as a Level 5 General Hospital was nearing completion," the statement said.
During the governor's address, he said the facility has a capacity of 400 beds and is expected to decongest Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.
"We are very close to finalising formal agreements to return Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital to the county as a level 5 general hospital whose 400 beds will serve a catchment area of 2 million people across Nairobi," Sakaja said.
