Veteran obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Job Lukuru Obwaka, who also serves as Chairman of The Nairobi Hospital, has been charged alongside three other directors over alleged conflict of interest and failure to comply with company reporting requirements.
Dr Obwaka appeared in court with Chris Bichange Munga Nyamaratandi, Samson Mbuthia Kinyanjui, and Valarie Akinyi Gaya in a case filed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
According to the charge sheet, the four are accused of offences under the Companies Act, including conflict of interest by a director and failure to lodge financial statements with the Registrar.
In the first count, prosecutors allege that Nyamaratandi, while serving as a director of Kenya Hospital Association Limited, received Sh4.8 million from Meritorious Insurance Agency, a firm contracted by the association, between November 10, 2023, and March 15, 2024. The payment is said to have created a conflict between his personal interests and those of the company.
In an alternative charge, he is accused of unlawfully accepting the same amount as a benefit from a third party linked to his position as a director.
The second count relates to Kinyanjui, who is alleged to have received Sh3,999,996 from the same insurance agency between December 23, 2024, and March 17, 2025, also creating a conflict of interest while serving as a director of the association.
The directors are also facing multiple counts related to failure to file financial statements with the Registrar as required by law.
Nyamaratandi is accused of failing to lodge the company’s financial statements for the 2022 and 2023 financial years by the statutory deadlines of December 31 in each year.
In a separate count, all four directors — Nyamaratandi, Kinyanjui, Dr Obwaka, and Gaya — are accused of jointly failing to file the company’s 2024 financial statements by December 31, 2024.
The prosecution alleges that the offences were committed while the accused persons were serving as directors of Kenya Hospital Association Limited, the entity that manages The Nairobi Hospital.
The four appeared before Milimani Trial Magistrate Teresa Nyangena and denied the charges. Through their lawyers — Nelson Havi, Danstan Omari, Cliff Ombeta, and others — they argued that the accused are senior hospital officers who should be focusing on patient care.
“Your honour, this is a petty offence, and the accused persons are senior people in the hospital who should be released to treat patients. Give them lenient bond terms as they will not abscond,” the defence lawyers said.
Magistrate Nyangena released each of the accused on a personal bond of Sh5 million. The case is scheduled to be mentioned on March 31.
