Fresh twist in St Mary's Mission Hospital ownership row

Dr Wiliam Fryda, a missionary at St Joseph Hospital in Gilgil, Nakuru County, on October 2, 2019. [File, Standard] The protracted battle over the ownership of St Mary's Mission Hospital has taken a new twist after an American doctor, William Fryda, accused nuns of altering the facility's intended purpose. Dr Fryda claimed that the nuns under the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi Registered Trustees (ASNRT) have established a medical training college on the disputed hospital land in violation of a Court of Appeal judgement. In a letter to the Nursing Council of Kenya CEO dated August 22, 2025, he alleges that individuals associated with ASNRT registered Our Lady of the Assumption Medical Training College as a business name on June 5, 2024, and secured approval to offer various courses on Land Reference Nos. 27228 and 27229. "This is in blatant violation of the orders made in the judgement of the Court of Appeal," Fryda wrote. According to the Registrar of Companies, Assumpta Kaula, Christine Kagunye, Teresia Ndeto, Joyce Tartisio, Margaret Wahungu, and Maria Felix Mwikali are listed as proprietors of the training institution. Fryda now wants the Council to review the approval and urgently take remedial action. He expressed concern that students have already been admitted to what he termed a "briefcase college" that has no legal standing to operate on the disputed land. "I am particularly concerned about the interest of unsuspecting students who are due to be admitted in September 2025," he stated. The Court of Appeal, in its September 25, 2020, ruling declared that properties LR Nos. 27228, 27229, 9361/10, and Kiine/Rukanga/2846 be held by St Mary's Mission Hospital, Nairobi, for the sole purpose of providing health services to the poor. A three-judge bench comprising Justices Asike-Makhandia, Kathurima M'Inoti, and Agnes Murgor further ordered that the titles, then under ASNRT, be transferred to the hospital. The judgement stated that any use of the properties other than that of providing health services to the poor or such other auxiliary purposes is null and void. Fryda insists that establishing a medical training college at St Mary's Hospital in Lang'ata contravenes the ruling and accused the Council of being misled into aiding the breach through "non-disclosure of material information". The American doctor, who founded St Mary's Mission Hospitals in Lang'ata and Gilgil, said he had initially acquired the contested lands in 1998 and 2001 and registered them under ASNRT, pending incorporation of the company that would hold the assets in perpetuity. The ownership wrangles have spilled to the company registry. In April 2024, the Registrar of Companies revealed that St Mary's Mission Hospital, Nairobi, had only one director. The finding followed Fryda's complaint, which challenged changes made after a January 3, 2011, meeting. Fryda claimed, the meeting was attended by five nuns and a secretary who were not legitimate directors of the company. Senior Assistant Registrar of Companies Ann Kanake later confirmed that the five could not have passed resolutions in that capacity and directed that a new board be properly constituted. The fresh dispute now threatens to drag on, prolonging uncertainty over the management of one of Kenya's largest mission hospitals.

Fresh twist in St Mary's Mission Hospital ownership row

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Fresh twist in St Mary's Mission Hospital ownership row

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