Court blow to Nairobi Hospital chairman Bichage
Chris Bichage, ousted chairman of the Kenya Hospital Association Board.
Ousted Nairobi Hospital chairman Chris Bichage has failed in his bid to suspend a board decision to remove him from the post.
Dr Bichage was voted out by the hospital's board on March 10, but rushed to the High Court arguing that the move was unfair and illegal.
Judge John Chigiti on Wednesday declined to grant him an injunction and instead referred the case to the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
“Upon perusing the Application dated 11.3.25 alongside the Verifying Affidavit and the Statutory Statement, this court is of the view that the issues therein should be heard and determined by the Employment and Labour Relations Court,” said the judge.
Dr Bichage said that the company secretary, Mr Gilbert Nyamweya, notified the board members of a meeting on March 10, which was to be held at 3pm.
He said he and other board members arrived to find that a minority group had started the meeting and had already passed a resolution to remove him as the chairman and replaced him with Dr Barcley Mogere Onyambu.
“The actions were procedurally unfair and in violation of Article 47 and 50 of the constitution as well as the Fair Administrative Action Act,” he said.
He had pleaded with the court to suspend the decision, pending the determination of the case.
Dr Bichage argued that the board at the time constituted a minority members and that they acted beyond their powers by electing Dr Onyambu through an irregular and opaque process.
He said the decision affected the governance and operations of a critical national healthcare institution, necessitating judicial intervention to ensure integrity and proper governance.
Dr Bichage said Mr Nyamweya later notified the members of the election of the new chairman.
“That at no point before or during the meeting was I given an opportunity to defend myself or challenge the decision,” Dr Bichage said.
He argued that the move was made without adequate notice of the agenda to all board members, without his participation as acting chairman and before the scheduled time.
He complained that the security team then locked his office, chased away his secretary and threw his personal belongings into the corridors, adding to the unfair and humiliating treatment he had been subjected to.
The move comes ahead of a ruling on Thursday on whether the board should be prevented from engaging in any form of capital expenditure.
The hospital had protested against Dr Samuel Mithamo Muchiri's orders, saying they would cripple the operations of the country's premier institution.
Dr Muchiri sought to be allowed to bring a suit on behalf of the hospital, challenging the outcome of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on December 4.
Dr Muchiri, through lawyer Nelson Havi, maintained that the AGM was held in gross contravention of provisions of the Companies Act and Articles of Association, thereby rendering the resolutions made during the meeting invalid.
The management opposed the case, arguing that there have been numerous court battles arising from the hostile takeover attempt by some members.
In addition, the hospital's management said it needed to replace old and outdated medical equipment for which manufacturers have ceased offering support and servicing of parts.
The court was informed that the hospital’s Linear Accelerator, which is used to provide cancer treatment services, was acquired in 2012 and is no longer supported by the manufacturer as it has reached its mechanical ‘End-of-Life’.
The court was also informed that the facility needs new medical equipment, including a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine and a CT Scan machine, which had already been procured through tenders.