Senate issues ultimatum to KU and KUTRRH over student access
The Senate Committee on Health has issued a firm ultimatum to Kenyatta University (KU) and the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to end their prolonged deadlock by September 2025, which has blocked clinical training access for KU medical students at the facility.
The directive was issued on Thursday, July 24, 2025, during a meeting convened at Bunge Towers by the committee, where the senate members of the committee addressed the crisis that has compelled students to seek clinical placements in alternative facilities in Kiambu and Thika despite the existence of a state-of-the-art national referral hospital located just next to their university.
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Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, who is the committee chair, warned that the welfare of students must not be compromised, stating that their well-being was not negotiable.
He emphasised that ongoing internal bureaucratic competition at Kenyatta University and KUTRRH needed to end immediately, asserting that the focus should remain on delivering the best possible training for Kenya’s future doctors.
“Let’s be very clear: the welfare of these students is not negotiable,” Mandago stated.
“We are seeing signs of distraction and internal competition that must stop now. This is not about who runs what; it’s about providing the best possible training for our country’s future doctors.”
Speaking during a session at Bunge Tower, Sen. Kembi Gitura, Chair of the KUTRRH Board, expressed regret over the impasse. Despite the hospital’s legal independence, Gitura emphasised the need to prioritise student training over administrative technicalities:
“I was appointed chair of a board guided by existing legal instruments,” Gitura said. “But I fully agree this is not about personalities. It is about ensuring our students receive the training they deserve.”
While the committee granted the request for an extension, it mandated that the university’s Vice-Chancellor, the hospital’s CEO, and a joint implementation committee submit a comprehensive progress report by the September deadline, whether a formal invitation is issued or not.
The root of the dispute, which has forced KU’s medical students to seek clinical placements in under-resourced hospitals in Kiambu and Thika, lies in the hospital’s 2019 reconstitution into a parastatal, which restructured its governance and reduced KU representation on the board .
