Nuns Fight Priest’s Bid to Regain Control of Hospital
TUESDAY JANUARY 16 2018
Kenya Daily Nation
Dr William Charles Fryda who wants interim orders reinstating him as the director of St Mary Mission hospitals. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In Summary
Dr Fryda wants interim orders reinstating him as the director of the hospitals.
Dr Fryda, through Senior Counsel Paul Muite, said he was the legal and appropriate owner of the hospitals.
By JOSEPH WANGUI
A group of Catholic nuns has urged the Court of Appeal to dismiss an application filed by an American priest seeking to regain control of the multi-billion-shilling St Mary’s Mission hospitals.
The Assumption Sisters of Nairobi said the application by Dr William Charles Fryda of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Society has no merit.
Through lawyers C.N. Kihara and Alice Wambugu, the nuns said Dr Fryda had refused to hand over the hospitals as ordered by Justice Sila Munyao of the Lands and Environment Court in September last year.
NYERI
While addressing judges Fatuma Sichale, Sankale ole Kantai and Daniel Musinga of the Appellate Court in Nyeri, the lawyers said the nuns were rightfully declared owners of the hospitals by the Lands Court. The court, which holds sittings in different regions, is currently sitting in Nyeri.
In the application, Dr Fryda wants interim orders reinstating him as the director of the hospitals, pending the hearing and determination of the main appeal that he has filed.
However, the nuns opposed the request, saying they have already taken over one of the hospitals, St Mary’s Hospital Lang’ata.
“The applicant has unclean hands and wants to sanitise blatant disobedience of court orders. The Lang’ata hospital was effectively taken over and there are other court proceedings seeking orders for supervision to take over the other hospital in Elmentaita,” Ms Wambugu told the Appeal Court.
She noted that before the takeover of the Lang’ata hospital, the nuns had tried to reach out to Dr Fryda for a smooth handover but that did not work out.
DONORS
Ms Wambugu told the court that Dr Fryda, in 2014, fraudulently transferred a 16-hectare piece of land from the names of the hospitals to Medical Mission Charitable Trust.
In response, Dr Fryda, through Senior Counsel Paul Muite, said he was the legal and appropriate owner of the hospitals having established them through funds he sourced from donors.
“Dr Fryda had a proposal for the hospitals which he shared with donors who agreed to fund them. He has been in control of the hospitals for the last 11 years before the respondent came in. His vision of running the hospitals and that of the sisters are miles apart,” said Mr Muite.
He added that the land where the Elmentaita hospital is situated was donated to Dr Fryda by one Joseph Ngera. He submitted that the hospitals later became joint projects between Dr Fryda and the nuns, and none can claim ownership over the other.
“The money was raised from efforts of Dr Fryda, something the sisters would not have done. The intention of the donors was to have quality healthcare offered to the poor,” said Mr Muite.
Kenya Daily Nation
Dr William Charles Fryda who wants interim orders reinstating him as the director of St Mary Mission hospitals. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In Summary
Dr Fryda wants interim orders reinstating him as the director of the hospitals.
Dr Fryda, through Senior Counsel Paul Muite, said he was the legal and appropriate owner of the hospitals.
By JOSEPH WANGUI
A group of Catholic nuns has urged the Court of Appeal to dismiss an application filed by an American priest seeking to regain control of the multi-billion-shilling St Mary’s Mission hospitals.
The Assumption Sisters of Nairobi said the application by Dr William Charles Fryda of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Society has no merit.
Through lawyers C.N. Kihara and Alice Wambugu, the nuns said Dr Fryda had refused to hand over the hospitals as ordered by Justice Sila Munyao of the Lands and Environment Court in September last year.
NYERI
While addressing judges Fatuma Sichale, Sankale ole Kantai and Daniel Musinga of the Appellate Court in Nyeri, the lawyers said the nuns were rightfully declared owners of the hospitals by the Lands Court. The court, which holds sittings in different regions, is currently sitting in Nyeri.
In the application, Dr Fryda wants interim orders reinstating him as the director of the hospitals, pending the hearing and determination of the main appeal that he has filed.
However, the nuns opposed the request, saying they have already taken over one of the hospitals, St Mary’s Hospital Lang’ata.
“The applicant has unclean hands and wants to sanitise blatant disobedience of court orders. The Lang’ata hospital was effectively taken over and there are other court proceedings seeking orders for supervision to take over the other hospital in Elmentaita,” Ms Wambugu told the Appeal Court.
She noted that before the takeover of the Lang’ata hospital, the nuns had tried to reach out to Dr Fryda for a smooth handover but that did not work out.
DONORS
Ms Wambugu told the court that Dr Fryda, in 2014, fraudulently transferred a 16-hectare piece of land from the names of the hospitals to Medical Mission Charitable Trust.
In response, Dr Fryda, through Senior Counsel Paul Muite, said he was the legal and appropriate owner of the hospitals having established them through funds he sourced from donors.
“Dr Fryda had a proposal for the hospitals which he shared with donors who agreed to fund them. He has been in control of the hospitals for the last 11 years before the respondent came in. His vision of running the hospitals and that of the sisters are miles apart,” said Mr Muite.
He added that the land where the Elmentaita hospital is situated was donated to Dr Fryda by one Joseph Ngera. He submitted that the hospitals later became joint projects between Dr Fryda and the nuns, and none can claim ownership over the other.
“The money was raised from efforts of Dr Fryda, something the sisters would not have done. The intention of the donors was to have quality healthcare offered to the poor,” said Mr Muite.
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