St Mary’s Hospital in Lang’ata, one of Nairobi’s busiest mission health facilities, descended into chaos on Friday, December 19, when alleged goons forcefully took over the hospital amid a bitter ownership dispute.
Medical services ground to a halt, patients were left unattended, and staff members were locked out while doors were welded shut.
What unfolded inside the hospital exposed a deep power struggle pitting the founder against current management, raising serious questions about governance, patient safety, and the protection of critical health infrastructure in Kenya.
St Mary’s Hospital Under Siege Amid Ownership Wrangles
Scenes captured inside St Mary’s Hospital showed men welding metal doors, breaking into staff residential quarters, shutting down the central administration block, and attempting to seal off access routes within the facility. The takeover paralysed operations in a hospital that normally serves between 800 and 1,000 outpatients daily and records over 900 deliveries every month.
Witnesses said the group moved with confidence and coordination, leaving nurses, doctors, and patients in shock. Departments were abruptly closed, files were inaccessible, and staff were ordered out of offices. Patients waiting for consultations, surgeries, and emergency care were stranded without clear direction.
The group reportedly accompanied Dr William Charles Fryder, who claims he is the founder and rightful owner of St Mary’s Hospital. Fryder insisted the hospital was built through his vision with donor support and accused unnamed individuals of grabbing control under questionable circumstances.
“We had created this hospital. Another group, unfortunately, grabbed it under questionable circumstances,” Fryder said during the confrontation.
The incident quickly escalated into a heated altercation between Fryder and the current hospital leadership, playing out in full view of frightened patients and staff.
Founder Claims Historical Ownership of St Mary’s Hospital
Dr Fryder backed his claim with documents tracing the hospital’s origins. According to his records, he left Nazareth Mission Hospital in 1995 and embarked on establishing St Mary’s Hospitals. In 1997, he acquired 10 acres of land in collaboration with the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi, laying the foundation for what would become a major referral facility in Lang’ata.
St Mary’s Hospital was officially licensed in 2000 under the name St Mary’s Mission Hospital Nairobi Limited. However, Fryder said the ownership structure later changed under murky circumstances. In 2010, a new company was registered to run the hospital, excluding his name from official records. This move, he argued, effectively sidelined him and intensified a long-simmering ownership conflict.
Fryder maintains that the changes were done without his consent and amounted to an unlawful takeover of an institution he helped build from scratch. His supporters say the forceful entry into the hospital was an attempt to reclaim control rather than an illegal invasion.
Management Rejects Takeover Citing Lack of Court Orders
The current management of St Mary’s Hospital strongly disputed Fryder’s actions, terming the takeover illegal and reckless. Their advocate, Wanja Wambugu, said there were no court orders authorising any change of management or access to hospital premises.
“We have not been served with any order. Upon arriving, we discovered that they were breaking into offices and welding doors, preventing the people who had been running the hospital from accessing the facility,” Wambugu stated.
Hospital officials warned that such actions endangered lives and violated multiple laws governing health facilities. They accused the invading group of prioritising a boardroom dispute over patient welfare, arguing that any ownership contest should be settled in court rather than through force.
The management also questioned why essential medical services were disrupted in a facility that has long positioned itself as a mission hospital serving vulnerable communities.
Patients Bear the Brunt of St Mary’s Hospital Standoff
While executives traded accusations, patients paid the highest price. The disruption left critically ill individuals unattended, including those requiring intensive care. One carer broke down in tears after her patient failed to access the Intensive Care Unit despite a doctor’s directive.
“The senior doctor said he should be in the ICU right now; why should the patient stay in bed without treatment?” she cried, capturing the desperation felt across the wards.
Mothers in labour, outpatients waiting for medication, and emergency cases were left in limbo. Some families were forced to seek alternative hospitals at short notice, incurring extra costs and risking further complications.
The standoff also threatened the hospital’s broader role in public health. Just months earlier, St Mary’s Hospital had been lauded for hosting free medical camps, including one held in September 2023 at the Catholic University of East Africa, underscoring its importance to low-income patients.
