The government plans to relocate Mathari Mental hospital to Karen with an estimated budget of Kshs. 5 Billion.
The facility to be established in Karen is expected to be modern and capable of handling other ailments aside from Mental health sicknesses.
Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital (MNTRH) along Thika Superhighway sits on a piece of land measuring 34.3 hectares.
The state, in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with two hospitals from Milan, Italy plans to relocate Mathari Hospital to a new piece of land located in Ngong towards Kajiado county measuring 81.69 Hectares.
The set-to-be-established facility is expected to ease pressure on staff and provide better care and more rooms.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu says that the terms of exchange have not been spelled out stating whether the parcel will remain in the custody of the Ministry of Health and consideration of land values for the two parcels that are being exchanged.
“Available records indicate the hospital will be relocated to a new location in Ngong, Kajiado County where a modern Neuropsychiatric National Teaching and Referral Hospital will be established at a cost of Kshs. 5,000,000,000 over two years,” said Ms.Gathungu during the audit of the Ministry of Health’s books of accounts for the year to June 2021.
Ms. Gathungu noted that there was an encroachment on the land where Mathari Mental hospital lies in the Mathari slum area. The parcel of land the hospital is situated on is No. 42/13/97/3.
However, the Ministry of health does not possess a title deed for the land instead they have an allotment letter to confirm ownership.
“In the circumstances, the value of money and ownership of the land could not be established,” said Ms. Gathungu.
She added that physical verification of the land revealed that it was fenced by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS). No documentary evidence was provided.
Ms. Gathungu also questioned the renovation works at the Mathari hospital which was founded in 1910 by British colonialists.
According to Ms. Gathungu, a Kshs. 74, 178,392 renovation works were ongoing from December 2021. The audit revealed that this was meant to fix worn-out and loosely hanging ceiling boards in some sections of the hospital office block building and repair broken walls which posed a danger to staff occupying the respective offices.
Mathari hospital is a public health institution that admits patients with severe psychiatric disorders who cannot afford private services.
Plans to relocate the hospital from Mathari were announced in 2021. Once the hospital is relocated, it will be upgraded to handle other medical purposes.
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Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe in November 2021 held investment talks with officials from San Donato and San Rafaelle Research Hospital in Milan, Italy.
This was to review the building plan and design for the Neuropsychiatric National Teaching and Referral Hospital. The yet-to-be-constructed facility will have a similar design as the San Raffaelle Research Hospital in Milan.