Professor Olive Mugenda has resigned as the board chair of Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) after protests emerged on Monday.
According to a press statement from State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed released on Tuesday, President William Ruto accepted her resignation.
In the statement, President Ruto disbanded the entire KUTRRH Board with immediate effect and the process of reconstituting it commenced.
“President William Ruto has received and accepted the resignation of Professor Olive Mugenda as the Chairperson of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral, and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) Board, with immediate effect,” stated Mohammed.
An aerial view of the Kenya University of Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH)
Photo
KUTRRH
The State House Spokesperson further noted that the CEO, Ahmed Dagane, has been directed to proceed on indefinite leave.
Dr Zainab Gura has been appointed as the acting CEO of KUTRRH. These are changes made by Cabinet Secretary for Health Deborah Barasa.
President Ruto also relieved Isaac Kamau, who was recently appointed by the board as acting CEO, from his duties and is directed to report to the Ministry of Health Headquarters. Kamau was sent on leave on Thursday, November 28.
“Following a resolution by the Board in a meeting held on November 28, 2024, to allow the Chief Executive Officer to proceed on leave, you are hereby appointed to the position of Acting Chief Executive Officer (Ag. CEO) with immediate effect from the date of this letter,” the letter says.
“Your appointment will remain in effect until further notice. You will be paid appropriate allowances as the Ag. Chief Executive Officer. We wish you well and the Board of Directors looks forward to efficient and effective service delivery,” stated the board in the letter to Kamau.
In a gazette notice, CS Barasa revoked the appointment of Kavinya Mwendwa and Gladys Ogallo as members of the KUTRRH board with immediate effect.
On Monday, staff members from the teaching hospital staged protests outside the hospital demanding the resignation of Mugenda.
Among the allegations levelled against the hospital’s management by the angry medics were claims of mismanagement.
The protestors who closed part of Thika Road to protest chanted, “Mugenda Must Go.”
A petition by the staff undersigned by representatives from Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) outlined 10 demands from the medical and non-medical staff at the institution before they can resume working.
Noting that most of the employees had begun working at the institution in 2019, the memo noted that the staff had lamented since the pandemic but conditions at the hospital remain unchanged.
In 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta, via an executive order, declared KUTRRH a state corporation. The hospital is now part of the national health network that has Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Newly installed KCA University chancellor Professor Olive Mugenda addresses guests after she was sworn in as a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on November 21, 2018 at the Supreme Court of Kenya.
Daily Nation