Jenipher Ligono: The health practitioner with a heart for hospitality industry

Retired registered clinical officer Jenipher Ligono. [Courtesy]

In the realm of entrepreneurship, there are trailblazers who shatter barriers, challenge norms and leave an indelible mark on their industries.

Jenipher Ligono, the founder and managing director of Kakamega Central Maternity and Nursing Home and Jamindas Paradise Motel, is one such individual.

With her tenacity, innovation, and unwavering spirit, she has contributed immensely to both the health and hospitality industries, becoming an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs in the Western region.

Jenipher is a retired registered clinical officer, who comes from humble beginnings. 

The firstborn in her family, she was born and raised at Mukhonje in Shinyalu Constituency and attended several schools, including Mukomari, Intermediate Musingu Mixed, and Malindi Girls Boarding Primary before finishing her elementary studies at Mukumu Primary School where she sat her class seven entry Certificate of Primary Education (EPE) exams.

She was the first born to the late Erastus Isuza and Erika Indinzi.

“It is hard to come from a boarding primary to a day secondary school. I was supposed to join a boarding girls’ school, but my parents had no money. I ended up joining Kakamega Brown Zouma High School,” says Jenipher.

Determined to create a better future for herself and her community Jenifer dropped out of school in Form Two in 1967 and successfully applied for a nursing course at Kakamega Medical Training College (KMTC), graduating with a diploma in nursing in 1970.

She admired nurses with their crisp uniforms and small white caps and strongly felt her calling was taking care of the sick.

After graduating in 1970, she enrolled for another diploma in midwifery and public health at the Kisumu Russia Hospital (now Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital) between 1970 and 1972.

She would then be posted to Busia District Hospital.

With her dream job secured, Jenifer went back to school to complete her secondary education, where she registered as a private student in 1973.

A section of Kakamega Central Maternity and Nursing Home. [Nathan Ochunge, Standard]

“It was a tough balancing act of working in a hospital and studying. By the grace of God, I sat for my Form Four exams and excelled,” says Jenipher.

Between 1973 and 1976, Jenifer enrolled for a third diploma in clinical medicine at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

Paediatrician

She was posted to the Kakamega Provincial Hospital (now Kakamega County General Hospital) up to 1981 when she went back to KNH, specialising as a paediatrician.

While still at KNH, she did another course in maternal public health and family planning.

“I came back to Kakamega Provincial Hospital as a paediatrician and worked until 1985 when my contract expired,” says Jenifer

Together with her children, she joined her late husband Jermain Ligono in Mombasa where he worked but moved back to Kakamega as “Mombasa’s weather was not favourable to her children.”

While at the Kakamega General Hospital, she says it bothered her that “women were not recognised at work despite doing the donkey work.”

She was particularly taken aback when she went back to work from maternity leave after having her secondborn child and was told she was in arrears for three months on her rent despite living in the hospital’s staff quarters.

“Married women were not recognised. There were no promotions for us and nobody thought we could do the work men used to do. That was not in the imagination of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH),” she says.

“My husband advised me to pay the money and quit, and so I left,” says Jenifer.

This proved a turning point in her career. She soon opened her own practice under the name Kakamega Central Clinic.

The business picked up and within a short time, she was able to buy a piece of land and put up Jamindas Paradise Motel along the Kakamega - Mumias Road at Ikonyero Shopping Centre.

And in 1990, the owner of the building that housed her clinic put it up for sale. Together with her late husband, they took a loan of Sh5 million and snapped up the building, which now houses the Kakamega Central Maternity and Nursing Home.

Jenipher Indasi Ligono (left) attending to a patient. [Nathan Ochunge, Standard]

Disaster, however, struck in 1993 when her husband had a stroke. His health continued to deteriorate over the years and passed away in 2002.  

“The hospital was doing well until 2000 when more clinics started coming up in the town, increasing competition. But we soldiered on, and today, we have at least 50 clinics in Kakamega town,” says Jenipher.

Competent staff

“I ensure that my patients get the best treatment. We have competent staff, including a resident doctor, qualified clinicians and nurses from all carders. Last year, we were upgraded to a Level (IV) hospital,”

Jenipher’s vision is to expand the hospital to offer emergency and Intensive Care Unit services.

But how did the career medical officer also get into the hospitality industry?

She says the idea for the hotel was borne out of a need she saw as the town expanded.

“We saw a need and filled it. We get regular visitors from our church during conferences and relatives as well.”

“Jamindas Paradise Motel was coined from both my name and my late husband’s name,” she says of the name choice for the business.

According to Isaac Kalava, the hotel director and chief operations officer, Covid-19 dealt a heavy blow to the business, but they are “picking up the pieces as they look to make up for lost time.”

“We have 70 state-of-the-art rooms, conference halls, ample parking, offering customers a home away from home,” he says.