Death at the Maternity and Arrest of Bunge Members

Fellow Citizens,

Elizabeth Ajwang, A 28 year old pregnant mother of one and loving wife to Moses Oduor, died on Monday morning in her husband's arms while waiting to be attended to at Huruma Nursing Home. They had gone to the facility at 9:00 pm on the previous night with Elizabeth at the early stages of her labour pains and a slowly rising blood pressure due to her hypertension.

Though there are varying accounts of exactly what happened at the facility in regards to why she had not been attended to; with some saying that the nurses attempted to administer the wrong treatment, some, that the doctor was away on another case, others, that they had refused to pay extra for the "emergency" nature of the situation, the fact of the matter is that by 5:00 am on the 28th of February 2011, Elizabeth Ajwang lay dead on a stretcher without having received sufficient medical attention at the nursing home.

Brewing Injustice

The outcry that followed was expected, but the reaction from the authorities was unacceptable and unconstitutional. 

As the residents of the area quickly gathered around the venue of the incident in the wee hours of the morning, their anger grew when it emerged that Elizabeth's case was one among three as there were two other bodies being removed from the Nursing home and being taken to the mortuary.

It is here that two members of Bunge Women’s Movement along with two men from the locality, who had joined the residents of the area to complain about the repeated and un-investigated cases of Maternal Mortality at this facility, found themselves in circumstances that led to their being at the remand facilities of Langata Women's Prison and Industrial Area Remand. They had been arrested at the venue after standing their ground when police from the local Huruma Police Post, reinforced by personnel from the nearby Kasarani area, rained in to disperse the gathered crowd after being called in by the nursing home's owners.  

The four were held over-night at the police post and were yesterday taken to Makadara Law Courts where they were charged with the trumped up charges of incitement to violence and attempted arson and a punitive bond of Kshs 30,000/-placed on each one of them.

As of last night,  Victoria Atieno, Ruth Mumbi, Ali Aithe Chande and Joseph Njuguna, faced their second night on cold hard floors for simply leading the marginalized residents of Kiamaiko slums in demanding to know why, despite the guarantees in Article 43 of the constitution, their right to health care services, especially, the unconditional access to emergency medical treatment, was being grossly violated and the government was doing nothing about it.

They wanted to know why the government was watching them die! 

Why Is the State Still The Enemy of the People?

It is evident that despite changes in the Constitution of Kenya, institutions of the state are still conspiring against the people to keep them in ignorance and fear.

Why won't the Ministry of Medical Services act on such facilities, which are operating under their licensing yet are dens of open un-professionalism and clear neglect and are leading to the high cases of maternal deaths which are well documented in government reports?

Why should the police always act with such bestiality against its own peaceful citizens whenever they ask for accountability and how come they don't focus on the culprits even when it is crystal clear who the violators are? Why are the police defending the criminals? Are they on the take?

Why does our justice system feign blindness when poor and unrepresented people are on the stand and punishes them with its undue processes which can imprison one for several years even when the circumstances of the case do not warrant such punishment? Is this a method of extortion?

And why won’t the government at large protect its own citizens using the very constitution that brings it into being? Is this an unconstitutional government or is it that the state is the enemy of the people?

How many of our sisters and brothers are we going to lose to injustice before we act?

For now, we hold the Government of Kenya responsible for the death of Elizabeth Ajwang!

May justice be served within our borders!

2nd March, 2011. 

Article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010

43. (1) Every person has the right—

(a) to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care;

(b) to accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation;

(c) to be free from hunger, and to have adequate food of acceptable quality;

(d) to clean and safe water in adequate quantities;

(e) to social security; and

(f) to education.

(2) A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment.

(3) The State shall provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependants.

February 28, 2011 The Kenyan March Begins

Article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 grants every Kenyan the right to be free from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable quality. It also grants other rights among these the right to housing, education and healthcare.

These things are important, not just as rights granted by the constitution, but as essential needs of every human being without which, life as a respectable Human Being is utterly impossible.

These are things that more than half of the Kenyan people are in dire need of.

• If you regularly miss lunch (or any meal) because you cannot afford it, then you are being denied this right.
• If you are an adult and you either live in your relatives care or in a tin-shack, then you are being denied this right.
• If you dropped out of school at any level or are unable to pursue the career of your choice because you cannot not afford the fees, then you are being denied this right.
• If you have ever been sick and were unable to see a doctor, for regular check ups, let alone for emergency cases, you have been denied this most basic of rights.
• If you have lost a friend or relative from a curable or undiagnosed disease or for any unjustifiable reason before they reached the age of 70, then you should by now realize that this state sees you as less than human.

You are not alone, this is a National problem and therefore, it is of National interest that this problem is addressed before any other.

We Know That Our Politicians Don’t Care!

More than six months after Kenyans overwhelmingly endorsed a constitution that promised to improve their lives; no one in the political class has either proposed to parliament or explained to Kenyans how they intend to implement the contents of article 43. Instead, they have conspired with the local media (that they own) to hoodwink Kenyans into fighting for them their battles as they greedily and shamelessly pursue their own selfish interests and position themselves to grab the extra seats they created for themselves come the 2012 elections.

Old Crooks Must Make Way For New Leaders!

Ni wale wale! The core of power in this country is still populated by KANU operatives. This is the same despotic regime that has retarded this country since independence. They have stolen all the wealth created by the hard-working people, who are now wasted since the evidence or fruits of their labour is all lost.

These thieves have now attracted other criminals into the house of law and our entire political system is now a host of vermin that needs to be fumigated before the entire country is irreversibly infected by this pestilence [bad disease that easily kills].

If they cannot solve the mwananchi’s basic problems or do not how to, then they must vacate their positions and allow a new group of people with new ideas and priorities to take over the government.

With more than 140 million acres of land, Kenya has the potential to satisfy half of Africa’s basic needs. It is only negligence and ineptitude (along with the slave mentality of all our politicians) that stops us from being the bread basket of the region.

It is time for this to change! It is time for us to change!

We the people must stand up and fight for our rights.

We refuse to be lied to one more day.

It is not about tribe- there are as many hungry Luos and Kikuyus as there are Kambas, Luhyas and Maasais.

It is not about gender- next to every woman or girl sleeping in a tin-shack lays a man or boy who is just as cold and sick.

It is not about religion- Christians and Muslims; all have been denied their humanity by the greed of the ruling class.

It is about every one of us becoming conscious of who we are and what our interests are as a people.

It is about breaking away from the spell cast on us by the murderous political class using their media that has turned us into ravaging beasts- dogs-of-war ready to tear out our brother’s (or neighbor’s) neck at the instruction of our tribal chiefs.

It is about waking up and saying no more lies!

To You, Mr President, Mr Prime-Minister and your Fellows:

The average person does not care about politics. We do not seek power for the sake of power. We just need enough to take care of our physiological needs and an adequate space to fully express our humanness.

You told us that multi-party democracy was going to give us better leaders- you lied to us!

You told us that if Moi goes we were all going to get more “ugali in our sufurias”- you lied to us!

You told us that if we get a new constitution we would all get “maisha bora” (a better life), but all you do is bicker about whose friends and relatives are getting to head what institutions or commissions. We are seeing the same names and the same criminals. You are lying to us!

We refuse to be used to fight your wars. No more war over appointments. No more wars over the ICC and local tribunals. No more wars for your votes.

We now know our rights and we know our interests. From now on we only fight for National Interests.

On the 28^th of February, it will be 3 years since we gave you a chance to give us what we need. You have given us nothing but senseless bickering and lies, lies, lies.

Today, we begin a new fight.

If you cannot give us Article 43, then we the People demand that you all leave. Yes you… Mr. President, Mr. Prime-minister, cabinet ministers, members of parliament and the entire failed neo-colonial system of oppression… Everyone must go! The SYSTEM must go!

February 28 2011, we begin the GRAND MARCH to take our country back!