Lack of funds delay new KMTC campus

Gatuyaini Primary in Othaya where Kenya Medical Training College Students will be accommodated. (Photo: Kibata Kihu/Standard)

Plans to set up a new Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) campus in Othaya have been frustrated by lack of funds.

The plan was to expand and equip Othaya Level Four hospital, where the college students would stay and train.

Trouble began when retired President Mwai Kibaki's government reportedly cancelled the tender after spending Sh500 million on improving the hospital.

But KMTC vice chairman David Muthoga said the government has since released funds and the project was back on course.

However, of interest is why the college went ahead to admit students before the facilities were complete.

As a result, KMTC has been forced to look for alternative accommodation even as Mr Muthoga indicated that the project would be ready next January.

The students have been offered temporary accommodation at a local Early Childhood Development Education centre as they wait for their dormitories to be completed. Six classrooms at Gatuya-ini Primary School in Othaya town have been turned into hostels.

Final touches

When The Standard visited the school, workers were busy putting the final touches to the dormitories that will house the medical students until hospital renovations are complete.

The school's head teacher, Tubi Muturi, said they allowed KMTC to use their facilities after consultations with parents, the board of management and the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

"When KMTC students leave, the structures will become part of the school property and we will use them to establish a boarding section. Already, some of the facilities, including toilets, a kitchen and septic tanks, are almost complete through funding from CDF. The arrangement is only temporary," said Muturi.

Muthoga said some of the old hospital buildings were set to be renovated and turned into hostels and lecture rooms as some of the medical services move to a new building that is still under construction.

"We have had to make alternative plans after the hospital project stalled. We had not foreseen this. However, the good news is the government has released the funds and this hospital will be ready for use by the students by January latest," he said.

He said the nursing council had already given approval for the hospital to train students.