The hopes of reopening the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital are dwindling, two years after it was shut down by the County Government of Nakuru in January 2024.

Despite eight court orders from the Environment and Land Courts in Nakuru and Nyandarua, and the Court of Appeal, no significant steps have been made for the hospital to be reopened and start operating.

Former patients of the hospital have been forced to go to Eldoret or Nairobi, especially those in need of dialysis, which the hospital was popularly known for offering.

The Standard has established that the sticking point delaying the reopening, is a standoff between the County Government leadership and the hospital’s private management.

The two parties have for the past one year, failed to agree on who will be managing the hospital following an order of October 1, 2024, directing the hospital to be reopened under a joint management.

“The hospital board will have five board members; two from the county government, two from the hospital and a national government representative,” ruled Judges Mohamed Warsame, Weldon Korir, and Paul Gachoka.

Since the order was issued, 15 months have passed. The hospital located on a prime 25-acre land in Milimani Estate, Nakuru, which is the subject of the dispute, still remains deserted.

The central characters in the tussle are unhinged. The county has also erected a huge wall to deter any access to the facility.

A source who is privy to the dispute and gave the information informed The Standard that the hospital management does not want the county government running the hospital.

The source said that on the other hand, the county government wants to be involved in the management, including its accounts, security personnel and access.

“The hospital feels that is unfair because no item in the premise belongs to the county government. On the other hand, the county leadership maintains that they are simply honouring a court order which directed a joint management,” said the source.

The source added that after the wall was erected, the hospital is only manned by guards after the county denied the hospital’s staff access and the compound had become bushy.

In their own admission before the court, early last year, both the private management and the county government said they had disagreed on how the hospital would be run once it is opened.

Roger Joslyn, a director of the Hospital and the chair of the board told Deputy Registrar of the Appellate Court Lina Akoth that they were ready to settle the electricity and water bill.

“The hospital was temporarily opened with a skeleton staff only, for renovation purposes, to ensure that by the time it is open to the public, it can provide quality medical services,” said Joslyn then.

He said they had signed a consensus that, after putting things in order, the county government would withdraw from the hospital and leave the hospital to private management to run it.

However, in another court session, Joslyn said that the county government had deployed its security personnel to man the hospital in an alleged bid to take full control.

This, Joslyn claimed, was despite uproar over poor management of healthcare services in the county, especially at the Nakuru Level V Hospital.

“We have been denied access to some critical parts of the hospital. The county government is frustrating the reopening of the hospital,” said Joslyn.

“Nothing in the hospital belongs to the county government, but they want to control it,” he added.

In response, County Secretary Samuel Mwaura, maintained that the Court of Appeal order meant that the private hospital would be jointly managed.

Mwaura expressed concerns that withdrawing the county personnel would be in contravention of the court orders.

The hospital’s closure caused uproar and in October last year, Nyandarua’s Judge  Joseph Mugo pleaded with Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika and War Memorial Hospital directors to reopen the hospital and provide resident services.

Mugo, who is hearing the dispute over who owns the hospital land, said there was a need for diplomacy as the closure of the hospital was detrimental to the quality of health services in Nakuru.

“I have not ruled on who owns the land, but I want the hospital to run. I have relatives in Nakuru who need services. The hospital has been operating since 1921 and has served many,” said Mugo.

He called on the opposing parties to set aside their egos that would not take them anywhere, sit down and discuss how the hospital can be reopened.

The death of David Kimani, the father of Nakuru Lawyer Nakuru lawyer George Kamau who was admitted at the hospital, during the county’s raid was attributed to the hospital’s shut down.

The family of former Nakuru Mayor Herman Nderi, who died in May 2024, said that the deceased, who had a kidney problem, suffered more when the hospital was closed.

Four cases are in court, including a criminal case against the hospital directors for alleged involvement in alleged fraudulent renewal of the hospital land lease for 50 years in 2021.