The transfer of Mama Margaret Kenyatta Children’s Hospital from the management of the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) to the county government has sparked bitter tussle within the leadership of the county.
One Member of County Assembly has even vowed to take on Governor Johnson Sakaja over the matter.
The 548-bed capacity facility was relaunched by Governor Sakaja on Friday in a tense ceremony characterised by running battles between police officers and rowdy youths.
It has emerged that the governor rushed to inaugurate the facility under his administration despite receiving a letter of protest. The letter was also addressed to the Office of the President.
In the letter dated June 12, 2024, Kariobangi North Member of County Assembly Mr Joel Munuve informed President William Ruto of the disadvantages that will befall the residents of the slums surrounding the facility, if the transfer is successful.
According to the MCA, the first bone of contention is the quality-of-service delivery to the people of Korogocho, Kariobangi and the county at large.
Poor health services
“The residents of Kariobangi North Ward do not have faith with the County Government hospital’s capacity to run Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital because most of the time county hospitals lack commodities, equipment, drugs and trained personnel,” the letter reads in part.
The letter was also copied to the Ministry of Health, and KNH, and Nairobi County Executive Committee Member in charge of health sector.
“This is therefore to inform you of the Kariobangi North Ward resident’s prayers for Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital to be reverted to Kenyatta National Hospital because it is about the service delivery to the people of Kenya, residents of Nairobi County, residents of Embakasi North Constituency and particularly the residents of Kariobangi North where the hospital is hosted.”
In a phone call conversation with Nairobi News, the MCA said their concerns were based on the poor health services and some of the cases that had been reported before in some of the county facilities such as the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, and Pumwani Maternity Hospital.
Mr Munuve said that majority of people living in the slums are vulnerable, and will be negatively by the changes.
Revenue collection
He accused the governor of prioritizing revenue collection streams instead of focusing on improving the lives of residents by ensuring that the existing health facilities are of high standards.
“For county it is about making money. But I’m looking it at serving our people. The hospital is situated at the center of slums, and people there might not have money to pay first before being attended to as in other county facilities here,” Mr Munuve said.
However, the county dismissed the claims, saying the MCA was trying to seek attention by politicizing health issues instead of playing his oversight role.
Nairobi County Chief Officer for Health Facilities Mr Geoffrey Mosiria assured the residents of Nairobi that under governor Sakaja, the quality of services at the facility will be of high standards.
“What the MCA is doing is to deny his people access to health, he is forgetting that we are here to provide health services to the people of Nairobi and not to play politics,” Mr Mosiria said.
Improving health sector
He also said that the facility was constructed using the county funds, and was meant to be a general hospital, and not a special facility for children as before.
The Chief Officer has also challenged the MCA to make use of the County Assembly by tabling issues or seeking clarification from the health department whenever he has an issue.
In March 2022, the facility was officially opened by the former president Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, after stalling for more than 20 years due to financial constraints from previous regimes.
The facility was completed barely two years by the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and was renamed from Mathare-Korogocho hospital to the former First Lady Mama Margaret Kenyatta, who was interested in improving health sector in the country.
During the launch on Friday, several people were injured as two factions collided, forcing the police to intervene.
The MCA said that he was denied access to the venue despite being the area MCA, an incident which turned chaotic.
