Backlash: President under fire for meddling in Nairobi Hospital saga

On Tuesday, President William Ruto intervened in the escalating governance dispute at Nairobi Hospital, defending the State's involvement as essential to protecting the 70-year-old institution from what he called 'conmen, fraudsters, and charlatans', a remark that many Kenyans on social media felt was a case of self-description

Speaking at a rally in Mt Elgon during the inspection of the Cheptais modern market, the President confirmed that he authorised a crackdown on the hospital's management after receiving a formal appeal from senior consultants.

Sources have intimated to The Standard that the President wants some board members removed to pave the way for preferred directors, including businessman Jackson Chebet, Devki Group owner Narendra Raval, and Court of Appeal Judge Mohammed Warsame to be co-opted into the board.

"Senior doctors, senior professionals from Nairobi Hospital approached me to save Nairobi Hospital from conmen, fraudsters and charlatans who wanted to expropriate it," Ruto stated. He emphasised his role as the patron of the Kenya Hospital Association, the body that owns the facility, arguing that he had a duty to act.

"There is no way I am going to allow Nairobi Hospital to be taken hostage by fraudsters," he added.

Ruto disclosed that specific directives have been issued to ensure legal action against those implicated in alleged financial crimes at the institution.

"I have instructed with clarity that all those who are involved in fraudulent activities in Nairobi Hospital will be removed, taken to court, charged and Nairobi Hospital is going to serve the people of Kenya," Ruto said.

The President's remarks follow the recent arrest and charging of four senior officials linked to the hospital's governing body. Dr John Obwaka, an admitting consultant; Samson Kinyanjui, the board vice-chairman; director Valery Gaya; and former director Chris Bichage were arrested on Friday and spent three night in police cells.

They were taken to court on Monday morning and stayed for seven hours with no formal charge presented against them. Later in the afternoon, prosecutors filed charges of conflict of interest, unlawful receipt of benefits, and failure to comply with financial reporting laws .

Prosecutors allege that Kinyanjui and Bichage received millions of shillings from an insurance agency contracted by the hospital, while Dr. Obwaka is accused of failing to file financial statements for 2022 and 2023.

The President claimed the facility was on the verge of collapse due to mismanagement, citing figures presented to him by the concerned doctors. According to reports, the consultants flagged financial irregularities including Sh9.1 billion in missing cash reserves and Sh3 billion in documented deficits.

City lawyer Peter Wena questions the president's intentions, saying Ruto should also put the same focus and energy into government-run hospitals.

"Government resources and time should not be wasted on a private enterprise. The government has no stake in Nairobi Hospital. They have a stake in Kenyatta and Mama Lucy which are poorly run. Why can't you try fix what you own before going to help a neighbour's problems? There is fire in your house and you are putting out fire in your neighbour's house.  How far can the state go into a private matter relating to a private institution? It sets a bad precedent. If there is a dispute on management, they the courts and their own constitution on how to resolve disputes.” 

Ruto remained adamant about the government's role. "Nairobi Hospital is a premier medical institution in Kenya; in fact, it serves the region. There is no way I am going to allow it to be taken over," he said.

The President's intervention has sparked a sharp political reaction. Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi has accused the government of orchestrating an illegal takeover of the board through intimidation and blackmail 

Muturi claimed that on March 7, the board chairman received a call from officials in the Office of the Head of Public Service ordering the removal of three directors to create room for individuals aligned with the President. "Failure to comply, they said, would lead to arrests and money-laundering charges. This is nothing short of coordinated blackmail," Muturi alleged .

He further claimed that presidential adviser Dr Sylvester Okumu Kasuku and Moses Agoi Ondaba were recently co-opted into the board after their names were submitted from Harambee House.

In a fiery response, Ruto dismissed the opposition leaders as intellectually incapable of understanding the situation and warned them to steer clear of the matter.

"I want to tell the brainless opposition to find something else to do. Leave Nairobi Hospital alone. Your IQ is very low and you do not understand what is happening," the President remarked . He described critics as "scavengers" jumping on headlines, following a story published by The Standard.

State House has maintained that the President's involvement is supervisory. In a statement issued on Monday, State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed said Ruto had been briefed on the challenges and directed that all processes be handled transparently to safeguard patient care and the institution's long-term stability .

According to Martin Andati, an analyst, the unfolding events at Nairobi Hospital raise serious questions about the limits of executive power and possible underlying interests beyond accountability.

“You know what, the story that came out initially was that the Head of Public Service had people positioned to force certain board members out and bring others in. If you are to resolve management issues, is that really the approach?” said Andati.

Andati argued that the process being described contradicts the hospital’s governance framework, noting that its parent body, the Kenya Hospital Association (KHA), has clear provisions on how board members are elected.

“There is no provision that says the president, even as a patron, can handpick directors. So even if they wanted to sort out the issues they are claiming, their approach is wrong,” he said.

He stated that any allegations of wrongdoing should follow established legal channels. “If there are criminal offences, complaints should be filed and investigated by agencies like the DCI. But summoning board members and directing who should resign goes beyond the mandate of a patron,” he said.

The speed and focus of the intervention, Andati noted, has also raised eyebrows among Kenyans.

“Why would the president move with such speed and force in a private hospital, yet appear slow when public hospitals are collapsing? That raises serious concerns. Nairobi Hospital collects about 2 billion every month. There are huge business opportunities there. The interest could largely be about those opportunities,” said Andati.

Andati further questioned what he termed as selective use of state power. “When government institutions are riddled with corruption, have those issues been addressed? Yet now there is time to ‘fix’ a private hospital. The speed with which they are moving here raises a lot of eyebrows,” he said.

However, Dr Simon Kigondu, the president of the Kenya Medical Association, while acknowledging deep-rooted governance challenges within the hospital, also questioned the method of intervention.

“To put it in context, Nairobi Hospital was functioning well until political interference crept into its board. Specifically, individuals with political backgrounds influenced how board elections were conducted,” said Dr Kigondu.

He described a system vulnerable to manipulation, including the use of proxy votes and questionable membership practices to sway board elections.

“You find people paying for votes, even recruiting members just to influence outcomes. That is how some individuals got into the board,” he said.

According to him, internal conflicts, procurement irregularities and alleged conflicts of interest have plagued the institution for years.

“There have been cases where board members engage in business with the hospital, which ideally should not happen. Procurement processes have also been questioned, with middlemen inflating costs,” he said.

He said that these governance failures have had real consequences. 

“You have seen complaints from patients about inflated bills and services they did not receive. Some insurers even withdrew services at some point because of these issues,” he noted.

Kigondu confirmed that some doctors had indeed sought intervention from the President, citing frustration with the board.

“The people who wrote to the president are doctors whose livelihoods depend on the hospital. They were frustrated because the board was mismanaging the institution,” he said.

However, he was critical of how the intervention has been carried out.

“The biggest problem with the president is the perception that he wants to take over the board through a process that is not democratic. We have not solved the core issues, including the integrity of the voter register," said Kigondu.

He also warned that recent actions risk compounding the crisis. 

“When you arrest multiple people, including those not central to the problem, it creates the impression of a dragnet rather than targeted accountability,” he said.

Kigondu called for structural reforms rather than what is currently happening.

“That board needs to go, yes, but through a clean, transparent process. We need a credible members’ register, fresh elections, and greater involvement of doctors who actually sustain the hospital. The danger now is that you replace one problematic system with another without fixing the root cause,” said Kigondu.