The Catholic priest in a legal tussle with nuns, over ownership of St Mary’s Mission Hospital, has lost his bid to reclaim the multi-billion shilling investment.
On Thursday, the Court of Appeal declined to return the property to Dr William Fryda, pending the determination of an appeal he has lodged.
The court said the priest, who has been fighting with Assumption Sisters of Nairobi (ASN), did not show how his appeal will be rendered useless if he is not reinstated as a director of the facility.
The ruling by Justices Fatuma Sichale, Sankale ole Kantai and Daniel Musinga allowed the ASN to continue running the facility as the appeal is heard and determined.
“The appellant has failed to give this court adequate reasons that the pending appeal will be rendered unimportant,” the ruling stated.
“The application is dismissed with costs to the respondent.”
The priest's lawyer Paul Muite had said he was afraid the nuns would run down facility.
This was after a Nakuru court declared the Assumption Sisters the legal owners of St Mary’s.
The sisters and the American missionary have been in a dispute for more than a decade, with each party laying claim to the property.
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At the Court of Appeal, the priest maintained he is the rightful owner of the hospital in Nairobi County as well as Elementaita Hospital in Nakuru County.
He told the court that the land on which Elementaita Hospital sits was donated by Joseph Ngera - a businessman whose wish is to see the community helped.
Further, the priest claims he was instrumental in the setting up and building of the Nairobi hospital in Lang'ata though donors who were personally sourced.
The sisters opposed the application
through lawyer Alice Wambugu,
saying they tried to reach out to the priest for a smooth handover but that he was unavailable.
While dismissing the application, the Court of Appeal judges directed hearings on priority basis.
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