Kenyatta University VC pledges to reclaim research hospital

Just days after returning to his role as Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University, Prof. Paul Wainaina has pledged to reclaim ownership of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral, and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to benefit students enrolled in medical and science programs.

Wainaina highlighted that despite having a modern facility on campus, KU students are currently training in inadequate facilities located in Kiambu and Thika towns.

He expressed concern about the challenges faced by students in health programs such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, public health, and medical laboratory sciences in Kiambu and Thika, citing the substandard facilities impacting their education.

"This compromises the quality of education we provide, even though we have a well-equipped facility for student training. That’s why it’s crucial for the university to regain control of KUTRRH," he explained.

He also mentioned that he would feel a sense of achievement if, by the time he retires next year, the hospital is returned to the university's oversight.

Wainaina emphasized that while students from other universities are benefiting from training in level-six hospitals, KU students are not afforded the same opportunities, despite the original intent of establishing the hospital to serve as a training center.

Vincent Ochieng, the representative of KU’s Congress for Health and Science, echoed Wainaina’s concerns, highlighting that students have not been able to access the facility since its inception.

"Other students are training in level-six hospitals, while we remain the only ones using level-five facilities, many of which are under-equipped," Ochieng pointed out.

He also mentioned that although the Senate committee had recommended immediate access for KU’s medical and health students, there has been no progress.

"We submitted a petition, and the Senate ruled in our favor, yet we still can't use the facility," he said.

"It’s disappointing that, even after a year, we still don’t have access to our hospital. We hope the Vice-Chancellor can regain control of the facility so that we, the students, can benefit," he added.

In June 2024, a Senate committee chaired by Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago recommended that the university should rejoin the management of KUTRRH.

The university had lost control of the hospital when Legal Notice No. 39 of 2021 converted it into a parastatal, removing the Vice-Chancellor and a university council representative from the board, thus stripping the university of its decision-making powers.

The Senate committee, in its proposal, recommended the revocation of Legal Notice No. 39 of 2021, a move that would restore the hospital’s original purpose.

"The committee recommends that the initial concept of KUTRRH as an educational and research facility of KU be preserved through the revocation of Legal Notice No. 39 of 2021," the committee's report stated.

Additionally, the committee directed that KUTRRH transfer the academic and training block to KU’s School of Health Sciences within three months.

While the hospital was to continue maintaining a mortuary in this block, it was also instructed to allow KU students to establish an anatomy laboratory.

The committee, formed in 2022, was responding to a petition by Jafar Kasay and others, addressing concerns over the management and use of the hospital by KU medical students.

The petitioners sought full access to KUTRRH for KU medical students and called for the hospital to be returned as a facility exclusively for the College of Health and Sciences students.