Solitary Kenyan medical officer overwhelmed by court paperwork

Just one official medical examiner is responsible for four million people.

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NAIROBI // Brian Mwita was attacked by his knife-wielding neighbour. He has a large gash above is right eye to prove it. The fight started out as a dispute over drinking water in the Kayole district of Nairobi. Mr Mwita wants restitution from his assailant, but a bureaucratic hurdle is preventing him and hundreds of other Kenyan victims of violence from seeking justice.

Anyone who wants to prosecute a violent crime in Kenya must first fill out a P3 form. The paperwork must be completed by a police officer, and then signed by a police medical examiner. The problem is there is only one official medical examiner for the entire Nairobi Province, an area with a population of around four million. The examiner spends most of his time in court and is rarely available to sign forms. Victims of violent crimes queue for days to get their paperwork signed, and many give up.

"I am trying to seek justice," said Mr Mwita as he waited in the queue for a second straight day. "The person that did this is just walking free. There's no case without this document." Outside of the medical examiner's office at a Nairobi police station, about 100 people wait in the queue. Some are victims of rape or domestic violence. Others, such as Dan Munyao, have been in traffic accidents. Mr Munyao was driving his car when it was hit by a minibus travelling in the wrong lane. The other driver was clearly at fault, he said. His hospital bills totalled US$500 (Dh1,836), and he still has pain in his chest. He cannot sue the other driver until he has a signed P3 form.

"The problem is here we only have one doctor," he said. "I can wait all day and be told to come back tomorrow. They should add more doctors, at least one for each constituency. It's really bad, only one doctor for the whole city." Mutula Kilonzo, the minister for Nairobi metropolitan development, told the local Daily Nation newspaper that the situation needs to change. "It's ridiculous and completely unacceptable," he said. "There's no reason anybody should have to wait even a day to get a P3 because it's a very simple, standard form; but the doctors are not there to sign them. It's out of neglect as far as I'm concerned."

Amnesty International, a London-based human-rights organisation, said some Kenyan police officers have denied rape victims the proper reporting forms. "Rape victims have sometimes been denied these forms when they have accused a state actor of rape or they have not been taken seriously when reporting domestic violence," the organisation said. Amnesty "is also calling for the acceptance of medical reports and testimonies by all registered doctors, not only government doctors, as evidence in court".

This added layer of bureaucracy has deterred many victims from seeking justice, according to Ronald Rogo, director of intervention for International Justice Mission, an organisation that helps people through the Kenyan legal system. "A lot of people shy away from proceeding with cases," Mr Rogo said. "They go to the police doctor one or two times and say 'what's the point?'." The organisation has been lobbying the Kenyan government to allow into court medical examinations by other government doctors, Mr Rogo said.

Delays in the current system are allowing criminals to go free, he said. The poor and disenfranchised have to wait the longest to see the police doctor while those with money can pay a bribe to jump the queue, according to those waiting in line. With an ineffective justice system, people turn to armed gangs for protection and retribution, according to Job Ogonda, executive director of Transparency International Kenya, a corruption watchdog.

"It's a vicious cycle and a recipe for insecurity," he said. Peter Karanja said he would rather take his chances with the formal justice system. He arrived at the police station to see the doctor at four in the morning and was number 48 in the queue. Meanwhile, his assailant is walking free. mbrown@thenational.ae