Strained, stalled and sinking: The harsh reality at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital

Patients stream into Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital each day in search of care, but they are met with a facility crumbling under pressure, abandoned by progress, and left to battle for survival with what little it has.

A visit by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, led by its chairperson, Chege Mwaura, has exposed how delays, unclear funding structures, and administrative gaps have brought major hospital projects to a standstill, putting lives at risk in one of Nairobi’s busiest hospitals.

During the committee's fact-finding mission, Mwaura, who represents Ngara ward, confirmed that the expansion of the hospital and construction of a canteen have made very little progress.

“Way lower than 40 per cent” is how he described their completion levels, despite some payments having already been made.

He blamed the dragging transition process from the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to the county government and asked the county, led by Governor Johnson Sakaja, to speed up the handover.

“The handover process has been very slow,” Mwaura said, pointing out that a faster process would help address the rising demand for hospital beds.

With the current capacity stretched thin, he warned that delays in project completion were directly affecting access to care. Also under scrutiny was the canteen, started in 2023 under a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) model.

The UDA legislator criticised the contractor, saying they were “letting this facility down” and stalling what should be a basic but essential service to support both staff and patients.

Even with these setbacks, the hospital continues to operate under heavy strain, surviving without any financial assistance from the county.

Mwaura revealed that Mama Lucy receives “zero funding from the county” and instead depends entirely on its own income to keep running.

In response, the PAC plans to push for policy changes that would give the hospital more financial independence, either through semi-autonomy or the creation of a Facility Improvement Fund (FIF).

The same proposal could apply to other Nairobi hospitals such as Mbagathi, Mama Margaret, and Mutuini.

Available documents show that roughly a third of the Sh300-Sh400 million allocated to the hospital’s projects has been released, yet details of the contracts remain unclear.

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• stalled and sinking: The harsh reality at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital

The PAC Committee said this lack of transparency points to deeper issues and asked City Hall to explain the missing information.

“We are not here just to blame. We want solutions that will work for both the public and the government,” its chairperson added.

The PAC’s report, still being compiled, is expected to detail the failings and suggest ways to turn the situation around.

Despite the difficult conditions, Mwaura praised the hospital’s use of its limited equipment, pointing to the efficient management of the CT scan as an example of what can be achieved with proper support.

His comments highlighted the potential that lies within the hospital if given a chance through proper funding and project completion.

Mama Lucy’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Martin Wafula, welcomed the committee’s visit. He assured them that the hospital was doing its best to maintain services.

Wafula also raised alarm over an increase in cholera cases. The hospital had recorded 48 cases, with five confirmed positive.

To respond quickly, they set up a 20-bed isolation unit and dedicated an ambulance to handle cholera-related emergencies. He urged residents to remain alert and maintain hygiene, including washing hands and using clean or boiled water.

In addition to the cholera outbreak, the hospital’s morgue is facing a serious capacity crisis. With room for only 45 bodies, the facility is supposed to serve a population of more than 2.9 million people.

Wafula said this situation adds to the daily pressure on staff and operations, further underlining the need for the stalled 400-bed expansion.

The long-awaited upgrade also includes a cardiac catheterisation lab and an increase in operating theatres from six to 18.

According to the CEO, once completed, the hospital would be in a better position to offer services such as open-heart surgeries, which are currently not possible due to space and equipment limitations.

The Public Accounts Committee is now expected to release a full report detailing its findings.

At its core, the report will not only highlight the slow progress and broken systems that have delayed vital projects at Mama Lucy but also recommend urgent actions that could help unlock funding and ensure the completion of critical infrastructure.

The fate of thousands of patients may depend on whether these recommendations are adopted or not.

As Nairobi’s healthcare system grows more strained by the day, the challenges at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital reveal a bigger problem: a city of millions left waiting for promises to be fulfilled, while its main referral hospital stands unfinished, underfunded, and overburdened