Amsons Group has broken ground on the first of 10 mother-and-child Level 4 hospitals it plans to construct across Kenya under a KES 4.5 billion (US$35 million) grant, with the inaugural facility launched in Chebunyo, Bomet County, at an event presided over by President William Ruto.

The project, branded “Amsons Mama na Mtoto Kwanza”, will be delivered under a Build, Equip, and Transfer (BoT) model in partnership with the Ministry of Health, according to the media release issued by the company. The group said the 10 facilities will be located in Nairobi (two hospitals), Kwale, Mombasa, Garissa, Kisumu, Embu, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu and West Pokot, and are targeted for completion within two years.

The development adds to Kenya’s ongoing push to reduce maternal and newborn deaths by expanding access to higher-level facilities, particularly outside major urban centres. Level 4 hospitals serve as key county referral facilities in Kenya’s health system, providing inpatient services, maternity care and more advanced diagnostics than primary care facilities.

At the Bomet event, Amsons Group Managing Director Edha Nahdi said the company’s foundation would finance the programme and deliver the facilities on an accelerated timeline. “This ceremony marks the beginning of a major commitment by Amsons Group to support the Government of Kenya in improving access to quality maternal, newborn and child healthcare,” Nahdi said.

He added: “Through Amsons Group Foundation, we are investing US$ 35 million to establish ten mother-and-child hospitals across Kenya within two years. This Level 4 facility in Chebunyo is the first of those ten hospitals and will set the standard for the facilities that will follow.” At an indicative exchange rate of about KES 129 per US dollar, the investment equals roughly KES 4.5 billion (US$35 million).

Amsons said each of the 10 hospitals will have a 250-bed capacity and is intended to serve women seeking pre- and postnatal care in remote and rural locations. The company stated that national and county governments would support operations through staffing and medical supplies.

The media release positioned the initiative as a private-sector contribution to maternal health outcomes, citing “available statistics” indicating that “5,000 children and 3,600 mothers die at delivery,” and that “26 counties” are identified as high-burden maternal death counties. The statement did not cite the source of these statistics.

President Ruto, according to the release, linked the hospitals to the government’s health infrastructure agenda. He said Amsons Group’s support would help deepen ongoing health infrastructure expansion under the national Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) project. The President said the Ministry of Health intends to implement the HSS Project to increase the number of adequately equipped health facilities, especially at Level 4 and 5, to serve as first points of access for inpatient care, referrals, emergency and critical services, and advanced diagnostics and treatment.

For Kenya’s business landscape, the project highlights a growing model where large corporates and foundations finance public-service infrastructure under structured partnerships such as BoT arrangements. If executed on schedule, the programme could also create construction and equipment procurement opportunities across multiple counties, while shifting long-term operating responsibility to public health authorities.

Next steps will include construction progress at Chebunyo and confirmation of groundbreaking timelines for the remaining nine sites, as well as details of procurement, handover milestones and operational readiness plans between the Ministry of Health and the respective county governments.

Murang’a County Referral Hospital hosted a fistula screening and treatment camp that mobilised 449 women and girls for screening, counselling, physiotherapy and corrective surgery, according to a press release dated April 18, 2026. The camp was a collaboration between the M-Pesa Foundation, the Ministry of Health and the Murang’a County Government, supported by clinical partners including the Flying Doctors and Amref Health Africa.

The organisers said the intervention comes against what they described as a national burden of about 120,000 women living with untreated obstetric fistula, citing shortages of trained fistula surgeons, delayed access to emergency obstetric care and complications during childbirth as key barriers to reducing the caseload.

Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury commonly linked to prolonged or obstructed labour and can result in chronic incontinence and other complications. Beyond the health impact, the condition can lead to stigma and economic exclusion—factors that often affect household incomes and productivity, and increase demand for public health services.

Christine Muthengi, a vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) nurse and trainer, said some patients at the Murang’a camp had lived with the condition for decades, with cases dating back to 1991. She linked long-term untreated cases to social outcomes that include abandonment and isolation.

“Obstetric fistula is a devastating childbirth injury that causes chronic incontinence, deep physical trauma and social isolation, from constant leakage to resultant foul smell, Women and girls are forced into hiding for years, to save them from shame,” Ms Muthengi said.

Ms Muthengi added that stigma remains a major obstacle to treatment, saying many patients conceal their condition and delay seeking medical care. The press release also pointed to gaps such as misdiagnosis and delays in accessing emergency obstetric services as contributing risk factors.

Despite Murang’a County reporting a 96% skilled birth attendance rate and a teenage pregnancy rate of 7%, the statement said underlying challenges—such as poverty and early and unintended pregnancies among adolescents—can still increase the risk of obstetric fistula.

The M-Pesa Foundation said it invested KES 8.1 million in the Murang’a initiative, which it described as part of a wider KES 213 million commitment towards fistula interventions. According to the Foundation, that funding has enabled more than 1,500 women in “high-burden counties” to access treatment.

Patricia Ithau, trustee at M-Pesa Foundation, said the programme aims to reduce delays to care and restore health outcomes for affected patients. “No woman should have to suffer in silence. Fistula surgery may seem like a simple procedure, but the transformation it brings to a woman’s dignity, health and future is profound,” Ms Ithau said.

For Kenya’s health sector, initiatives that bundle screening, surgical camps and post-operative support can help counties manage backlogs, but they also highlight structural constraints in specialist capacity and referral systems. If scaled and paired with stronger emergency obstetric care, such programmes could reduce long-term costs associated with chronic complications and social support needs, particularly in public facilities.

The partners did not provide a timeline for the next camp in the statement, but positioned the Murang’a intervention as part of longer-term efforts to build capacity to manage fistula cases and increase access to treatment in counties with high demand.