Nakuru War Memorial: Hospital gets reprieve as court quashes county's bid to end land lease
The entrance to the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital in Nakuru City.
The Nakuru County government's bid to claim custodianship of Nakuru War Memorial Hospital after its lease expired has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
The county government, through gazette notice No. 63 of May 19, 2023, cancelled the lease of the property known as Nakuru Municipality Block 11/107.
The County Government's main argument was that it was the "legitimate custodian" of the land in question.
The county also claimed that the hospital management had secretly and fraudulently obtained a lease extension in 2021 without its involvement.
The hospital's lawyer, Lawrence Karanja, argued that the county government lacked locus standi (the right to be heard) to institute the appeal.
“The Nakuru County Government illegally and unprocedurally lodged this appeal against the judgment dated July 18, 2024, without seeking leave, and is now attempting, through the back door, to appeal against the ruling dated June 13, 2024, which was declined by the trial court,” said Mr Karanja in his final submission.
In their ruling delivered on Friday, the three Appeal Court judges—Mohamed Abdulahi Warsame, Gachoka Paul Mwaniki and John Mativo—ordered that the decision made by Nakuru County Government to cancel the lease of Nakuru War Memorial Hospital be quashed.
“An order of certiorari (leave to appeal) be and is hereby granted to bring up and quash the decision of the Nakuru County Government made vide Kenya Gazette Notice No. 63 dated May 19, 2023, in respect of the cancellation of the certificate of lease of parcel No. Nakuru Municipality Block 11/107 in the name of Nakuru War Memorial Hospital,” ordered the three Court of Appeal judges.
The Court of Appeal judges also declined the county's application for an order of prohibition, saying, “We are not persuaded that Nakuru County Government has demonstrated that it is aggrieved or likely to be adversely affected by the said judgment in order to possess the requisite locus standi to appeal against the judgment dated July 18, 2024.”
For the past two years, Nakuru County has struggled in vain to explain its interest in the 25-acre land in the upmarket Milimani Estate on which the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital stands.
The Nakuru County Government had forcibly taken over the facility, leading to a legal battle that has remained in the corridors of justice, as patients suffer and others die due to a lack of specialised treatment that was previously offered by the more than 50-year-old facility—often regarded as the Nairobi Hospital of Nakuru County.
The hospital suffered millions of shillings worth of damage after it was closed as the ownership dispute raged. Hired goons invaded the hospital and destroyed essential equipment and other property.