Genesis of KU land tussle linked to control of hospital

Wainaina, a philosophy of education scholar who wept as he lost the battle on Tuesday, had picked the return of Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital to the university as the legacy of his tenure.

However, Prof Mugenda, the hugely politically well-connected crusader and who now chairs KUTRRH board, says the university was never meant to run the hospital in the first place.

She told the National Assembly Committee on Implementation that the original idea was for the hospital to be run as an independent entity.

“Kenyatta University rejected the idea of a hospital running as a company and took the matter to court to block it in 2016. Sadly, the university management did not operationalise the hospital for three years,” Prof Mugenda said, according to the report tabled in the National Assembly by Narok North MP Moitalel Ole Kenta on September 30 last year.

The hospital project was financed through a concessional loan agreement between the Government of Kenya and the EXIM Bank of China amounting to Sh8.7 billion.

Under the loan deal, Kenyatta University was offered the 20-year debt with a grace period of seven years.

The first semi-annual repayment was due on September 21, 2018, with completion set for March 21, 2031.

Treasury PS Dr Julius Muia told the committee the government was forced to take over the hospital because KU defaulted on the loan.

He said President Uhuru Kenyatta had signed the loan on behalf of KU when he was Finance minister in June 2011.

He gazetted the hospital as a parastatal under the Ministry of Health on January 25, 2019.

Prof Mugenda insists she had nothing to do with the hospital being turned into a parastatal.

She was appointed the hospital chairperson in April, 2019. KUTRRH admitted its first patient in October 2019, amidst battles over its control.

“The Legal Notice 4 of 2019 that set up the hospital as a state corporation is clear on functions of the hospital and what the board is supposed to ensure is provided,” Prof Mugenda said.

However, Prof Wainaina, who also appeared before the same committee, would have none of that.

He said KU had come up with a number of options on how to effectively run the hospital and even met with the Ministry of Health for negotiations.

During negotiations and before the university made its final presentation the presidential order was published indicating the hospital had become a parastatal.

It had proposed Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua that KUTRRH be turned into a semi-autonomous government agency (SAGA).

“However, the university was never afforded an opportunity to present the final document,” he said.

The VC said there was no benefit at all with the hospital as a parastatal. But he listed several disadvantages.

“The project might not achieve its primary objective of teaching, training, research and collaboration if the hospital is run as a parastatal,” he said.

At that time, KU was represented on the KUTRRH board by the vice chancellor, principal of the medical school and a representative of the university council.

However, the representatives would soon be kicked out.

On July 19, 2021, Kenyatta University council chairperson Prof Shem Migot-Adholla received a letter whose contents remain contentious to date.

It was signed by Prof Mugenda and announced that the hospital board had been reconstituted.

“It has come to the attention of the board that through the Gazette Notice Legal Notice No 39 dated  April 1, 2021, the membership of the Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital has been reconstituted.

“According to the new membership, Kenyatta University will be represented by the dean of school of medicine,” she wrote, in the letter dated July 13.

The KU VC and a representative of the university council now no longer sit on the hospital board.

Prof Migot-Adholla said he has looked for that Legal Notice 39 in vain.

He also wrote to Prof Mugenda asking for a copy of the same.

“Kindly furnish us with a copy of legal notice No 39 dated 1 April 2021 cited in the said letter for record purposes and for advise to the Kenyatta University Council,” he wrote on August 9 last year.

He has never received that copy.

The two institutions also have a Memorandum of Understanding detailing how they should cooperate. However, they have never agreed on how medical students from KU can study at the university.

Last year, the Ole Kenta-committee ruled that it was wrong for President Uhuru to divorce the hospital from the university.

The committee made two recommendations, which the government ignored.

They directed that the CSs for Health and Education should ensure that Kenyatta University students have full access to the KUTRRH facilities.

“The President should revoke Legal Notice No. 4 of 2019 and revert the Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital to a University Hospital within six (6) months of the adoption of this report,” the committee recommended.

Edited by Henry Makori