Leaders in Nyeri County are at loggerheads over the management of the Mwai Kibaki Hospital previously known as the Kenyatta National Hospital Annex, differing on views on who is better suited to run the facility.

During the funeral ceremony of late Karima ward representative Reuben Wahome on Thursday, June 9, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga and Othaya MP Gichuki Mugambi feuded over the management of the facility after complaints by patients of poor services.

This was after Chinga Ward MCA Kiruga Thuku pointed out that the facility had become of no help to locals in the region owing to its  costly services which have left many to resort to alternative medical centers where they are able to afford them.

This ,according to Thuku, did not reflect the dream of the late president whom the facility is named after, as he felt it was exploitation on the part of the hospital to keep it afloat.

"The hospital is not helping the locals as the late president would have preferred. He did not intend it to be a KNH Annex but an independent level six like Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret,” said Thuku.

He also pointed out that the  facility was still under management by the Kenyatta National Hospital as it prepares for independent running with its own board, but this comes at the expense of the locals as it is not adequately funded to cater to patients.

“It is starved of funding because when KNH in Nairobi receives (funding) from the exchequer, it is expected to share the same with Othaya.

"We want it to be independent with money being channelled directly. We also want it to have its own board comprising of local people who are aware of the challenges facing the community,” Thuku remarked.

Among other contentious issues raised by the ward representative were the discrimination against NHIF card holders who are bypassed by those paying in cash for services, as well as the procurement of  items including foodstuffs which is done in Nairobi when the same can be sourced locally to benefit farmers.

Mugambi however found Thuku at fault for making the accusations that he differed greatly with, stating that it was normal for the facility to impose high charges for certain services and accused the MCA of propagating a political agenda. 

Kahiga who was in support of Thuku told off Mugambi, stating that his administration had only requested a teaching referral hospital with its own board of management and not a KNH subsidiary, which he blamed on former Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki for allowing to happen.