Kenya Begins Construction of First of Ten New Specialised Maternal Hospitals

Approximately 16 women die every day in Kenya from pregnancy-related causes, according to figures cited by President William Ruto.

On September 12, 2026, Ruto broke ground on the first of ten hospitals intended to expand access to maternal and newborn care.

The site is Chebunyo, in Chepalungu, Bomet County, where a planned 250-bed Level 4 hospital will provide maternity care, Caesarean sections, obstetric care and maternal and neonatal intensive care.

Amsons Group has pledged US$35 million for the project.

The Ministry of Health described the funding as a KES 4.4 billion grant in August, while Amsons and Ruto referred to it as roughly KES 4.5 billion at the September 12 groundbreaking.

Amsons Group, which holds controlling stakes in Bamburi Cement and East African Portland Cement in Kenya, is funding the project through the Amsons Group Foundation.

"This facility is a grant from Amsons. It's not a loan, and that's the value of friendship," Ruto said at the Chebunyo ceremony.

Amsons Group Managing Director Edha Nahdi said the company is investing the money through the Amsons Group Foundation "to establish ten mother-and-child hospitals across Kenya within two years."

Nine more hospitals are planned for Nairobi, Kwale, Mombasa, Garissa, Kisumu, Embu, Nakuru, West Pokot and Uasin Gishu counties.

The locations are part of a broader effort to target counties with a high burden of maternal deaths.

Kenya's Ministry of Health has identified 26 counties as accounting for roughly 60 percent of the country's maternal deaths.

In many areas, limited access to specialised maternal and newborn care means women and families may have to travel long distances to reach facilities equipped to manage complications.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has been meeting with governors and county representatives as the government works to fast-track implementation.

Under the arrangement, called a Build, Equip and Transfer model, Amsons will construct and equip the hospitals before handing them over to Kenyan public authorities.

The government and county authorities are expected to assume responsibility for staffing, medicines, maintenance and operations.

The Ministry says 900 healthcare workers have already been trained in obstetric care and another 900 in comprehensive newborn care, strengthening the skilled workforce needed to support maternal and newborn services. .

Nahdi said Chebunyo "will set the standard for the facilities that will follow," and Ruto said the hospital is expected to be completed and commissioned by March 2027.

If all ten facilities are completed to the planned 250-bed capacity, Kenya would add 2,500 specialised maternal and newborn beds across the ten planned locations.