High Court halts investigations into Nairobi Hospital affairs

Justice John Chigiti also issued an order preventing investigative agencies from freezing the bank accounts or blocking the phone numbers of the hospital's senior management.  

"Leave shall operate as a stay in line with prayer 3" reads the order.

Last week, Attorney General Dorcas Oduor obtained court orders allowing detectives to seize various documents and electronic devices from the hospital.  

The search warrant granted to Chief Inspector Martin Munene authorized investigators to search the offices of senior management at Nairobi Hospital and the Kenya Hospital Association (KHA), as well as review company records held by both entities.  

However, in a fresh application filed before the Judicial Review division, KHA—through lawyer Gitobu Imanyara—argued that the actions of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Inspector General (IG), and the Attorney General (AG) were unlawful.  

The association claimed that the probe was not a genuine enforcement of criminal law but rather an extension of ongoing leadership disputes within the hospital.  

Imanyara told the court that the investigations amounted to harassment of senior managers, allegedly aimed at pressuring them to relinquish their positions.  

Additionally, the court was informed that some of the confiscated electronic devices contain patient records, raising concerns over violations of the Health Act 2017, as well as breaches of patient privacy and confidentiality.