Who is fooling whom? Sad tale of St Mary’s Mumias Hospital and Sh180m debt
A locked-up gate of St Mary's Mission Hospital Mumias, on October 31, 2025.
Despite an August announcement by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale that St Mary’s Hospital in Mumias had been reopened, the 93-year-old faith-based facility remains shut.
Father Ian Kafuna, the priest in charge of St Peter’s Catholic Church and the custodian of St Mary’s Hospital, said the Sh180 million owed in part by the now defunct National Health Insurance Fund and the Social Health Authority (SHA) is yet to reflect in the facility’s account.
St.Mary's Mission Hospital in Kakamega County.
“We know the government is committed to seeing St Mary’s back on its feet. Delays are inevitable, but we are optimistic that this money will come,” said Fr Kafuna.
Since the closure of the hospital on June 3, hundreds of patients and expectant mothers have been forced to seek health services in far-off facilities in Butere, Matungu and Kakamega.
St Mary's Mumias Hospital shut its doors after what the management termed as severe financial strain caused by unpaid claims.
Speaking to Nation on Thursday, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said that after endless pleas urging SHA to immediately wire the Sh180 million, he has no option but to compel Parliament to come to the rescue of the facility.
“I will petition Parliament to nip this issue in the bud once and for all because if we are not careful, the good people of Kakamega and even neighbouring counties that depend on that health facility will lose it for good,” he said.
Reassuring residents of resumption of services, CS stood on the steps of Kakamega County Offices in broad-daylight and announced that the health facility had been reopened.
Flanked by SHA CEO Mercy Mwangangi, the duo promised that SHA would release Sh 14 million to restore operations at the country's oldest missionary hospital.
CS Duale would later announce that the government had paid half of the amount owed to the hospital.
His statement was confirmed by Bishop Joseph Obanyi, who said the pending payment from the government stood at Sh35 million only.
“The government was owing us Sh140 million as unpaid claims for NHIF and additional Sh40 million for SHA. So far, we have received Sh98 million from SHA between December 2024 to August 2025,” said Bishop Obanyi while urging President William Ruto, who was on an official visit in Kakamega County, to intervene.
When he visited Kakamega to launch the TaifaCare Initiative in the county on August 3, 2025, CS Duale announced the long-awaited reopening of the hospital; creating a festive mood to hundreds of patients who have been missing the desired health services.
"After two weeks, on September 14, we shall be releasing additional money to St Mary’s Hospital to ensure it revives to operation. I will then physically come there to ensure the hospital is up and running,” said Mr Duale in Kakamega while standing next to Bishop Obanyi.
Established in 1932 as a dispensary, St Mary’s hospital in Mumias grew to stand tall as one of the cornerstones of a range of health services serving a large population in Western region.
The facility became a level-4 teaching and referral hospital and was the hope for health care services around Mumias, Butere, parts of Bungoma and Busia counties, serving as a training ground for healthcare professionals, providing specialised care for patients referred from other facilities and standing tall as a beacon of hope and healing, with a rich history that spans 93 years.
Kenya’s former health minister Prof Amukowa Anangwe told Nation that the facility saved his brother who was on the edge of dying.
“I have known St Mary’s hospital as one of the hospitals that were offering the best healthcare services. It is so unfortunate that this hospital has been dwindling in its operations and has gone down,” lamented Prof Anangwe.
On October 25, CS Duale told the Senate that that facility was being used for political expediency.
He emphasised that the government had transferred money to the mission hospital.
“I went and sat with Bishop Obanyi, with the whole of my team including the bank manager and we have shown our Lordship the Bishop that SHA has paid him Sh 90 million. The balance at the time was Sh 14 million, we have paid the Sh 14 million, it is you now to go and ask the Bishop why he is not opening the facility,” said Mr Duale.
He went on: The Bishop was with me in a press conference, and I said it, let us not use St Mary’s for politics and I know the people of Kakamega are watching me.
Look for something else, St Mary’s is a closed chapter because I flew to Kakamega and we sat with Bishop to do reconciliation, we proved to him that we have paid Sh 90 million, if today I pay Nairobi Hospital for example and the management decides not to run the hospital and close it, that is not on the Minister for Health.”.
On Thursday, Nation spoke to Bishop Obanyi seeking to know whether payment from SHA had reflected in the health facility’s bank account.
The Bishop said that he doesn’t know because he no longer is involved with the day to day running of the health facility.
“I am the Bishop of Kakamega, not just Mumias and I am currently away on other engagements, kindly speak to those at St Peter’s Catholic Church Mumias who are directly involved with the day to day running of St Mary’s Hospital and ask them for an update,” he told Nation via telephone directing us to Father Ian Kafuna, who still maintains that the debt owed remains unpaid.
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