A five-year ownership battle pitting top catholic priests and a group of nuns over the control of the Sh3 billion St Mary’s Mission Hospital that serves thousands of poor patients in Nairobi and Elementaita, has turned ugly.

Its founder, American priest Father William Charles Fryda, is now facing possible excommunication and deportation for resisting take-over attempts by individuals within the church.

The fight between Fr Fryda, a trained oncologist (cancer specialist), and the Assumption Sisters has escalated to America. It has also roped in John Cardinal Njue, the head of the Catholic Church in Kenya.

The fight which has also spilled to the Kenyan courts is threatening to derail the hospital dedicated to serving low-income earners and for which Fr Fryda told The Nairobian: “Every time I open my mouth to speak on this matter, I feel sick. It is a terrible feeling. It saps the energy in me.” He added that, “Whenever I go through the documents in the file and the communication from the Order, it feels dirty! I feel like taking a shower.”

Contacted over the ownership wrangle pitting Fr Fryda and the Catholic Church, Cardinal Njue told The Nairobian on phone that: “For goodness sake, I am not party to any ownership matter. I have never claimed ownership of the land or the hospital. All I was doing was to create reconciliation but I was misunderstood.”

Cardinal Njue added: “When I arrived, I found the tension and that is why I tried to bring reconciliation. Ours is a mission and a mission is to serve the people.” 

Trouble started in 2010 when the Assumption Sisters wanted to be involved in the management of the hospital  despite it not being owned by the Catholic Church.

The hospital’s seed money was Sh3.9 million donated by America’s Leonard Zetah Trust in 1997. Other donations in excess of Sh90 million soon followed from other benefactors. The Catholic Church, according to court documents, has not made any contributions to the hospital.   It is owned and managed by staff in a model that excludes the Catholic Church.

Indeed, the Leonard Zetah Trust- run by Lutherans - donated the money on the understanding that St Mary’s Hospital would not be converted into a Catholic Church property.