Following Monday’s protests, Professor Olive Mugenda resigned as the board chair of Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).
According to a press statement issued on Tuesday by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, President William Ruto accepted her resignation.
In the announcement, President Ruto abolished the whole KUTRRH Board with immediate effect, and the process of reconstituting it began.
“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.
The State House Spokesperson also stated that the CEO, Ahmed Dagane, has been asked to go on indefinite vacation.
Dr. Zainab Gura has been named as KUTRRH’s acting CEO. These are the modifications made by Cabinet Secretary for Health Deborah Barasa.
President Ruto also stripped Isaac Kamau, who was recently appointed by the board as acting CEO, of his duties and directed him to report to the Ministry of Health Headquarters.
Kamau was placed 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 removed Kavinya Mwendwa and Gladys Ogallo’s appointment to the KUTRRH board, effective immediately.
On Monday, staff members from the teaching hospital protested outside the hospital, demanding Mugenda’s resignation.The outraged clinicians accused the hospital’s management of mismanagement. Protesters who blocked Thika Road screamed, “Mugenda Must Go.”
A petition signed by delegates from the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) stated ten demands from the institution’s medical and non-medical workers before they resume work.
The message indicated that the majority of the employees had begun working at the institution in 2019, and that while the staff had complained since the pandemic, hospital conditions remained constant.
President Uhuru Kenyatta established KUTRRH as a state corporation through an executive order in 2019.
The hospital is now part of the national health network, which includes Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
