Priest loses legal battle over ownership of St Mary’s Mission Hospitals

A Catholic priest has lost a case involving control of two mission hospitals after a seven-year legal battle.

The Environment and Lands Court in Nakuru County declared Assumption Sisters of Nairobi (ASN) the legal owners of the St Mary’s Mission Hospitals.

The case was filed in 2010 by William Fryda, who accused ASN of trying to seize the hospitals and their land.

Dr Fryda said the land was bought through donor funds, which he single-handedly sourced. He said the money used to built the hospitals, in Elementaita, Nakuru County, and Langata in Nairobi, was also provided by donors.

But in his judgement yesterday, Justice Sila Munyao ordered ASN to transfer the hospitals and other properties to a charitable trust to be managed under St Mary’s Mission Hospital Ltd.

Fryda claimed the hospitals, set up to offer health services to the poor, had been held in trust by ASN since he could not own property.

He said there was an agreement that ASN would transfer the hospitals to a company in the name of St Mary’s Mission Hospital Ltd.

Fryda claimed he sourced funds to buy the land and build the hospital after getting the go-ahead from his Catholic order, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Society.

But Sister Marie Theresa claimed the hospitals were a project of ASN.

“The concept was developed in 1953, when the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi started. We wanted to help the poor and the marginalised. Dr Fryda was not part of it,” she said.

She said Fryda only came in as a medical doctor.

Joint project

Mr Munyao rejected Fryda’s claim that the hospitals were being held in trust by ASN. He further noted that the hospitals were set up using donor funds and were a joint project between Fryda and ASN.

Both sides were engaged in sourcing funds and building the facilities.

“There was a joint venture to source for donor funds and Dr Fryda, in several letters before court, did indicate the project ownership was to be under Assumption of Sisters Nairobi. The legal ownership can only be with the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi,” Munyao ruled.

The judge held that Fryda would continue to hold his position as the medical director until the properties were transferred to the company.

“It will be sad if, after all his input, Dr Fryda is cast out. It’s up to the management to agree on his position,” he said.

The court ordered Fryda to disclose any bank accounts held by the hospitals in seven days.

Munyao said the facilities could not be used for any other purposes than to provide healthcare for the poor.