Kembi Gitura resigns as KU hospital board chair, says he "won’t live a lie" under Ruto’s administration
He said many of his supporters questioned why he accepted the appointment despite being a fierce critic of UDA during the 2022 elections.
Former Murang’a Senator Kembi Gitura has stepped down as chairman of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH), saying he cannot in good conscience serve under an administration whose policies he opposes.
In a statement on Tuesday, Gitura said he had tendered his resignation to President William Ruto with immediate effect, thanking him for the appointment but stressing that remaining in office would send the wrong signal to Kenyans.
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“I have tendered my resignation as Chairman of the Board, Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to His Excellency the President with immediate effect, and I have thanked him for having accorded me the opportunity to serve our great nation at such a premium national institution,” he said.
The former senator lauded KUTRRH as a well-planned facility that has been instrumental since 2019 in providing specialised treatment for cancer, kidney and heart conditions. He credited the hospital’s management and board for their dedication during his eight-month tenure, noting their collective efforts had strengthened the institution.
However, Gitura admitted that his role had been clouded by political controversy from the moment he was gazetted on December 20, 2024. He said many of his supporters questioned why he accepted the appointment despite being a fierce critic of UDA during the 2022 elections, when he unsuccessfully contested the Murang’a Senate seat on a Jubilee Party ticket.
“They knew I did not belong to the UDA Party. They insisted that the optics of my taking the position were wrong, that nobody would understand, and that it was irrelevant that I was convinced I would do a good job,” he said.
He recalled how friends and political allies continued to link him to the government socially and politically, particularly after the June 2024 Gen Z protests, despite his insistence that he had not changed his political position.
“I have never supported the UDA government and I have always stood firmly, although maybe at times quietly, with those forces that are up against its policies,” he said.
Gitura added that many Kenyans, including those elected on a UDA ticket, had since realised that the administration was failing to deliver on its promises, a stance he claims he had consistently warned about.
The former legislator insisted his resignation was not about the hospital itself, which he said remains a national and regional success story, but about his inability to reconcile his political beliefs with a presidential appointment.
“For the record, I do not support the UDA government policies on virtually all fronts. I do not want to mislead anyone by any of my actions, words or deeds,” he said, quoting a Biblical warning from Matthew 18:6 about misleading others.
“In short, I do not want to continue living a lie.”
Gitura criticised what he termed as rampant corruption and the politics of deceit, stressing that he prefers honest and straightforward leadership.
He further warned against tribal politics, describing them as a tool of division from colonial times that continues to be exploited by a “cabal from within our own people.”
“Anyone who preaches tribal and ethnic politics must be shunned and not allowed anywhere near national leadership,” he said.
The former senator expressed his wish to remain on the “right side of history” and reiterated his belief in Kenya’s potential for unity and progress if guided by principled leadership.
“Ours is a great nation with a very bright albeit delayed future… It is my wish to be on the correct side of history when the penultimate chapter on our nationhood is written,” he said.
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