The Nairobi Hospital has asked the High Court to dismiss a petition which temporarily blocked its annual general meeting (AGM), arguing that the case was filed by people who are not shareholders, members, directors or officials of the private company.

📋 Breaking It Down

The hospital’s company secretary, Gilbert Nyamweya, said the petition by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, Bernard Muchiri and Naomi Misati improperly seeks to turn a dispute over the management and internal affairs of a company into a constitutional matter.

The High Court had temporarily halted the hospital’s AGM, which was scheduled for February 6, 2026, after the petitioners challenged the legitimacy of the register of members used to determine voting rights and raised allegations of financial and governance failures.

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📌 What You Need to Know

Mr Nyamweya, however, said the orders sought could expose the hospital, its directors, shareholders and officials to statutory breaches and personal liability.

He argued that an AGM is a mandatory statutory requirement and that the hospital’s governing documents require a third of the board members to retire and be replaced each year at the meeting.

“Grant of the orders sought would thus render the Hospital inoperable,” he said.

The hospital also argues that the dispute should have been filed before the Commercial Division of the High Court rather than the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, maintaining that the petition concerns the company’s management, control and internal affairs.

The petitioners, however, contend that the hospital has become a matter of significant public interest because of its role as a major tertiary healthcare provider and its alleged connection to public land.

They claim the institution has evolved over seven decades into a regional medical referral centre serving millions of patients in Kenya and across East Africa.

📰 Source: Nation Africa