Prof Olive Mugenda resigned from the board of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) on Tuesday, December 3.
Announcing her resignation at KUTRRH, Health Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai said Prof Mugenda had submitted her resignation letter to his office and that he had presented the same document to the President.
“The Office of the President has accepted the resignation and directed the Board (KUTRRH) be reorganised through a Kenya gazette notice that will be issued anytime from now to notify us of the new board members,” PS Kimtai said on Tuesday amid applause from the hospital staff.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed Tuesday evening confirmed the resignation of Prof Mugenda and that the hospital’s acting CEO, Isaac Kamau who was recently appointed to the position by the Board after the former CEO, Ahmed Dagane was sent on forced annual leave, was directed to step aside and will henceforth be reporting to the office of the Health PS.
Dr Dagane will, however, still remain on his forced leave with PS Kimtai clarifying that his contract as the hospital’s CEO is still intact and that he will remain out of office to pave the way for investigations into the issues that led to his suspension by the now suspended board.
“In order to reorganise the institution, it has been directed that the CEO (Dagane) should proceed on indefinite leave and pave the way for the board to be replaced and look at the issues raised. If there is no issue on his end, we will still consider his contract as it is still valid,” he said.
To fill in the vacuum left at the institution’s helm, PS Kimtai announced that Mr Kamau will be immediately replaced by Dr Zainab Gura.
KU hospital staff protest poor conditions
Giving her maiden speech, Dr Gura thanked the Ministry of Health for appointing her to serve as KUTRRH’s boss and promised to work together with the staff to improve the hospital.
“I want to assure you that I am a listener and I will listen to you. Please give us support to think through and sort through the issues as we steer the ship and await the reorganisation to take place. I am looking forward to interacting with you. I hope we reclaim the glory of this premier institution,” she said.
These changes came a day after the KUTRRH staff put down their tools and staged a demonstration at the hospital’s administration block. They raised several issues, key among them being non-payment of allowances, medical cover and promotions.
The medics also demanded that three bare minimums be implemented before they can go back to their workstations.
These included the immediate reinstatement of their medical cover, the dissolution of the hospital's board of directors, which they say “meddles in the day-to-day running of the hospital, and the reinstatement of CEO Ahmed Dagane, who was sent on forced annual leave and replaced by Isaac Kamau."
The medics also accused the hospital management of failing to properly identify and align the job grades of its staff and demanded the publication of the human resources manual for easy reference.
They also want the hospital's board of directors to clarify its stance on sexual harassment in the workplace, which they say has continued unabated despite numerous reports by victims to the relevant authorities.
“The persistent silence on this matter has not only emboldened the perpetrators but has also resulted in untold suffering to the victims, some of whom have suffered mental breakdowns and poor performance at work," Dr Oyiengo said during the demonstrations Monday afternoon.
The medics said they wanted to have improved healthcare benefits and asked management to provide a functioning staff clinic. They also demanded medical bill waivers for critical care, oncology, diagnostic and imaging, major surgery and dialysis where the cost of treatment exceeds in-patient insurance coverage.
In the event of death, they want the hospital to provide transport for staff to pay their respects.
For his part, Justin Kinoti, who represented the staff under the Kenya National Union of Nurses said the hospital management should draw up a clear organogram showing who reports to whom and for what to avoid the confusion that has been seen between the nursing and clinical services directorates.
Even though nurses are the bulwark of the hospital's workforce, they complained of continued high-handedness on the part of management, who tend to believe patients' relatives rather than nurses, who are "never given a chance to defend themselves".
