The Court of Appeal has ordered the re-opening of the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital within three weeks.
The deputy registrar of the Court of Appeal sitting in Nakuru, Lilian Okoth, on Monday, January 20 directed the joint interim management committee appointed to oversee the reopening and running of the facility, to ensure it is open to the public within the period.
The order followed a request by the committee to be allowed the time to make final preparations before it can resume operation.
The hospital has been shut for a whole year since the county government tried to take over its management following a dispute over the ownership of the 26-acre parcel of land where it stands.
However, the Court of Appeal Judges Mohamed Warsame, Weldon Korir and Paul Gachoka on October 1, ordered the immediate re-opening of the hospital under the joint management of a five-member committee.
The committee consists of representatives from both the national and county governments together with those from the hospital to oversee its resumption.
But on December 18, the management committee claimed the hospital had a Sh2.3 million pending electricity and water bill which he said had delayed the reopening of the hospital.
The bills allegedly accumulated since January this year— the period when the hospital was shut down.
However, Rodger Joslyn, who is the hospital board chair, told the court that the hospital has been opened with a skeleton staff only to allow renovation.
He urged the court to allow them the time in order to ensure it is able to provide quality medical services by the time it is open to the public.
“The hospital equipment and machines will be tested and repaired if need be within the next one week,” said Mr Joslyn.
Dr Simon Watene, who is also one of the directors, said the management committee was working on ways to settle the huge bills.
The deputy registrar, however, raised concerns over the delays in re-opening the hospital despite the order being issued three months ago and urged them to work together to facilitate the reopening.
“Parties should work hand in hand to ensure the hospital is operational,” said Ms Akoth.
The development comes at a time when the trial of three directors of the hospital charged with the fraudulent acquisition of the lease for the 26-acre parcel of land is ongoing.
When he appeared before the court last week to testify as a prosecution witness County secretary Dr Samuel Mwaura struggled to explain the devolved unit’s interests in the parcel of land.
This is after the defence team led by lawyers Henry Aminga, Kahiga Waitindi, and Kipkoech Ngetich put him to task to explain why the county was so determined to pursue the criminal case relating to the process of renewal of the lease despite the land being owned by the national government
The lawyers took issues with the county’s decision to shut down the facility, filing a land case and effecting the arrest of seven individuals including directors and top land officials,
Dr Mwaura, during a cross-examination before Nakuru Chief Magistrate Elizabeth Juma, claimed to have received documents from the hospital which they suspected were forgeries and presented them before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for probe.
When asked why he ordered the cancellation of a lease, a function the lawyers said was out of the county secretary’s jurisdiction, Dr Mwaura noted he only reported a suspected case of forgery to the directorate of criminal investigations.
“In my capacity, I had the responsibility to point out the alleged forgery I suspected and report the same to the relevant authorities to take further action,” answered Dr Mwaura.
He could neither prove that the national government had allocated the land to the county government nor that the devolved unity co-owned the land with the hospital.
The criminal case's hearing will continue on January 27, while the civil case will be discussed on February 10.
