Patients at Marigat Sub-County Level 4 Hospital in Baringo County have been moved after large cracks appeared on the building's walls. Pulse Live Kenya and Kenyans.co.ke reported the move on Sunday. The facility opened only eight months ago.
Medical superintendent Patrick Mutua said the hospital could not take chances. He said all patients in the emergency wing had been transferred to the ward section. Pulse Live Kenya reported that the affected building now stands empty.
Images seen by Pulse Live Kenya show cracks running vertically and diagonally across the walls at several points. Some appear to run deep, past the paint and plaster. Kenyans.co.ke said its images showed cracks in parts of the administration block.
President William Ruto commissioned the hospital in March 2026 as part of his push to improve healthcare access. According to Kenyans.co.ke, the facility has maternity and neonatal wings, inpatient wards and diagnostic units. The outlet said Ruto was first involved in the project in October 2023.
In October 2026, Ruto ordered that the hospital be upgraded to a Level 5 facility with a KSh 1 billion injection. Kenyans.co.ke reported that residents and the County Government of Baringo welcomed the plan.
Residents now say the building puts their lives at risk and want it demolished. "When you enter that hospital, the first thing that you notice are the huge cracks," one resident said. They are asking Ruto and other authorities to step in. According to Kenyans.co.ke, they also want answers on construction standards and project supervision. They are also asking whether the contractor met requirements.
The cracks add to wider worries about building safety in Kenya. On Friday, Parliament ordered an immediate investigation into structural defects at a 10-storey building on Kabir Road in Riruta Satellite, Nairobi. The defects there forced 90 tenants to leave. The National Assembly and Senate are also probing building safety in Nairobi after an October 23 collapse in Eastleigh killed eight people. Three people are still missing.