Good job Mwingi police

Good job Mwingi police

BY MUSYOKA NGUI

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he police did a marvelous operation that successfully arrested 32 illegal immigrants of Somali origin on transit to Nairobi along Mwingi-Garissa road. The alleged human trafficking syndicate could have done more harm if it found its way to the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The police must have acted swiftly given the lorry tried to escape arrest by speeding but police gave chase which finally nabbed the suspects. The suspects who couldn’t speak either English or Kiswahili may have entered Kenya through collusion with the immigration officials or border patrol police. Therefore there is an urgent need to rid our criminal justice system of corrupt officers who won’t mind accepting a bribe at the expense of the security for many.

We should not allow our borders and soil to be used for human smuggling since this may expose us to terrorism, drug trafficking and modern day slavery. In the meantime let them face the law after the police finish their investigations.

Tharaka Nithi nurses strike point to failed health devolution

Tharaka Nithi nurses strike point to failed health devolution

BY MUSYOKA NGUI

T

hat health workers have stayed put and vowed to continue with their strike at the expense of patients points to a failed take off of transfer of the health function from the national government to the county governments.

The nurses refused to return to work after their May salaries were paid in full. They raised other issues like calling on the governor Samuel Ragwa to sack the Health executive Magdalene Njeru who accused the nurses of stealing medicine from the hospitals in Chuka General Hospital.

The nurses are obliged by their professional code of conduct to prioritize the plight of the patients at all times. The Hippocratic Oath holds and any professional doctor should be compassionate to the plight of the patients, majority of whom are poor to seek medical attention to private health facilities.

Graft Claims

As a result, the patients from Tharaka Nithi County have transferred to Meru and Embu teaching and referral hospitals. The claims of health workers stealing public medicine from public hospitals should be investigated and culpable nurses be prosecuted. It is alleged that the nurses have opened private clinics in town where they stuff the siphoned drugs which they recommend to their patients who are told that the drugs have ran out of supply. Medical dishonesty is a serious crime at a time when negligence among the medical fraternity have hit the local headlines.

Rightly, governor Ragwa maintains that the nurses must return to work since their dues have been paid. Any continued standoff will only lead to more needless suffering and at worse loss of lives.

IFMIS

There is also an urgent need for the national government to streamline the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) which is blamed for the delays in paying publics` servants including nurses and other professionals. It will also help for the county governments to partner with banks to ensure that nurses get their salary within the shortest time. Above all, patience and dialogue should prevail for the nurses who are educated enough to know the consequences of their strike on the ordinary citizens.

Mr. Ragwa has welcomed consultations with the nurses in a move expected to stem suffering among the patients. No amount of grandstanding will help the nurses. They should eat a humble pie and know that regardless of their duties they owe service delivery to Kenyans and must serve them selflessly and steer clear of politics and sideshows.

Bashir’s contempt of South African court sets bad precedence for African strongmen who ride on diplomatic immunity to escape with impunity

Bashir’s contempt of South African court sets bad precedence for African strongmen who ride on diplomatic immunity to escape with impunity

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here are grave ramifications of arresting a sitting Head of State. One, the country that arrests the indicted Head of State is likely to be embroiled in a diplomatic spat. Sudan could not have taken kindly the actions of South Africa arresting their president yet the latter enjoys diplomatic immunity. But it is high time we rethink if the diplomatic immunity extends to protecting someone suspected of war crimes and genocide.

BY MUSYOKA NGUI

That Sudanese president Omar al Bashir chose to fly out of South Africa despite a Pretoria High Court issuing a warrant of arrest against him makes a mockery of justice system and is a gross violation of not only the South African constitution but also the Rome Statute which established the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The way Bashir sneaked out of South Africa is likely to embolden other rulers in Africa who would rather support impunity which is the lifeline of their dictatorial streaks. Bashir comes off as a coward who is unable to face justice if indeed he believes he is innocent. After all doesn’t the law presume one innocent until proven guilty?

The Rome Statute needs to be amended to make it compulsory for ICC member states to effect the warrants of arrests should those indicted step on their soil. The fact that member states choose voluntarily to comply or not in itself undermines justice since they are not held accountable for the failure to apprehend a suspect yet they subscribe to the ideals of ICC.

Of course there are grave ramifications of arresting a sitting Head of State. One, the country that arrests the indicted Head of State is likely to be embroiled in a diplomatic spat. Sudan could not have taken kindly the actions of South Africa arresting their president yet the latter enjoys diplomatic immunity. But it is high time we rethink if the diplomatic immunity extends to protecting someone suspected of war crimes and genocide.

Toothless Dog

The ICC has been exposed as a toothless dog that only barks but doesn’t bite. The Rome Statute should be amended to widen the jurisdiction of the ICC. Thus the ICC will transcend geopolitical borders and will be more efficient in bringing the ICC suspects to book wherever they are regardless of their status is in the society.

The UN estimates that over 300,000 Sudanese were killed in Darfur while about 2.5 million were rendered Internally Displaced Persons in their own country. These people still cry for justice which hasn’t been forthcoming since 2003 when the Darfur conflict erupted.

ICC should also be seen to shake off the tag that it was created for Africa. This notion is gotten from the fact that since the creation of ICC in 2002 it has handled 22 cases all from Africa yet there have been conflicts elsewhere such as in the Arab World and no one has been brought to justice. Does the ICC overlook the alleged war crimes committed by USA and UK in Iraq but is obsessed with chasing African dictators? Why is it silent on Syria?

For ICC to work effectively, it must act independently and fairly. Any bias on its part will only serve to erode confidence and credibility it once enjoyed in the eyes of citizens who find themselves under iron fist rule and looked up to the ICC to save them from their dictatorial regimes. Once more, South Africa should’ve arrested Bashir and handed him over to the ICC even if it’d have resulted to economic sanctions by Sudan against South Africa. Justice has a cost too.