Several Members of Parliament have today toured the Kenya Defence Forces hospital in Kabete.
Members from the Committee on Defence led by its vice chair Bashir Abdullah visited the hospital to access the progress made since its launch.
Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru told the Public Petitions Committee in March that there were no plans to complete the Sh19 billion project after the financier withdrew.
“We are looking for a financier to meet the rest of the Sh19 billion. It is an issue on the table as we are still far from completion,” Mariru said.
The legislators wanted to understand the challenges faced and the value of the money expended on the project.
Mariru told the Committee that the Ministry of Defence had exhausted its budget for the venture.
The Chinese financier was to fund the project at 85 per cent in an Export Credit Agreement, with the rest to be funded by taxpayers.
According to the PS, the financier pulled out following a policy change.
China, he said, took a policy position that they wouldn’t fund defence projects in other countries, hence affecting the works which were at 25 per cent completion.
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta Kenyatta launched the project in 2021.
"This Level 6 hospital will cater for the needs of those working in our security agencies," he said.
"It is indeed a proud day for our country, for our security agencies given that this is the first project of this magnitude that has been done since the Armed Forces Memorial Hospital was done in the early 1970s."
The level six Forces Referral and Research Hospital- 700-bed capacity was to serve as one of the key medical research facilities in the country.
It was to have a cancer centre, a medical school complex, an oxygen plant, an accident and emergency block, and a mortuary unit.
Once complete, it would have also offered specialised health services to the military as well as other security forces.
