Goons chase away War Memorial Hospital staff

Rowdy youths chase away War Memorial staff after barring them from accessing the hospital. [Julius Chepkwony, Standard]

The staff and management of War Memorial Hospital in Nakuru have been unable to access the facility despite court orders allowing them back to the premises.

Members of staff attempted to regain access to the hospital but were chased away by a group of rowdy youth who vowed never to allow them back.

The workers, led by Matron Patricia Musale, camped at the hospital gate hoping the police would help them regain access. However, the youth emerged and roughed them up as police watched, before they were eventually chased away.

"We will never allow you back into this hospital," one of the youths who was hooded, shouted. It was not clear on whose orders they were acting during the 10 am confrontation.

Armed police officers deployed at the facility stood by and watched as the youth roughed up the workers vowing never to allow the facility to revert to War Memorial.

The latest attempt by the staff to regain access to the hospital followed a decision by the Nyandarua Environment and Lands Court that dismissed an application by the county government of Nakuru which sought to have earlier orders allowing the hospital management to continue with their operations, set aside.

Justice Yuvinalis Angima said he was not satisfied that interim orders issued on October 31, 2023, should be discharged, varied, or vacated.

The orders barred the government from interfering with the operations of the hospital or its property. The county police boss was directed to ensure compliance with the order.

The same court reinstated the lease for the hospital. The title lease, first issued in 1922, was renewed for 50 years by the lands office effective March 1, 2021. However, after a complaint by the county, the lease was cancelled on May 19, 2023, by the Nakuru Land Registrar.

The court said it found it strange that Land Registrar Erick Nyamu published a notice of "loss" of a certificate of title for the suit property yet the hospital's management never reported such a loss.

Ms Musale said they have not been operational for the past six months following a dispute between the hospital management and the county government.