Nairobi Hospital board ousted

The Nairobi Hospital’s shareholders have voted in a new board following the ouster of eight of its directors.

In an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on Wednesday, the members of the Kenya Hospital Association (KHA) — which owns the hospital — voted in Dr Irungu Ndirangu as the new chair of the board.

Dr Chris Bichage was elected the vice chairman, while other members include Robert Shaw, Victor Miseda, Maxwell Odongo, Charles Amira, Charles Wambugu and Dr Stephen Ochiel.

The meeting that ousted the previous board went on as planned after the court dismissed an objection to remove the immediate former directors.

“The members voted in eight (directors) to replace the entire board since three had earlier been removed and so now we have a fresh team,” said city lawyer Miller Bwire, who is representing KHA members.

The former board had opposed the holding of a similar EGM on May 15, arguing that the petition summoning the meeting breached rules because it failed to disclose a specific agenda and was signed by some members who had not paid their subscriptions.

Some of the shareholders had accused the directors of poor oversight of infrastructure projects at the hospital, whose costs the petitioners said were inflated. They also claimed that the hiring of top executives was irregular and that the board had failed to file tax returns for eight years, exposing the hospital to KRA penalties.

The board has also been faulted for delayed payments to doctors, suppressing a forensic audit that revealed suspect procurement and the failure to call for fresh directors’ election at the June Annual General Meeting (AGM).

“The directors have failed to properly manage capital infrastructure projects of the company leading to overshooting of budgets at astronomical sums, prejudicing the company financially,” said the petition backed by KHA members who say they own at least a 10 percent stake in Nairobi Hospital.

Nairobi Hospital has in recent years been on a multi-billion shilling expansion spree, including the construction of a 12-storey building, a convention centre with a 400-seat auditorium and one of the region’s biggest laundry.