- PMM said his status was disclosed due to disappearance of his medical record file which was later found in court file.
- PKN said he struggles to obtain ARVs and has poor health.
Two inmates who sued Kamiti Maximum Prison for unlawful disclosure of their HIV status have lost their case.
The two are called PMM and PKN in court papers to protect their identity.
The HIV tribunal ruled on April 16 that the two did not present any credible evidence to sustain a claim for disclosure of their status.
“It is not for this Tribunal to speculate that the issues before the High Court relate to the claimants’ HIV status. Indeed, the claimants have admitted that they suffer from a host of other ailments, all of which require treatment, and in some instances, surgery. Any of these could have formed the basis of the claimants’ petition to the court for treatment.”
In his case, PMM said his status was disclosed due to disappearance of his medical record file which was later found in court file. Once his medical file was in court it ended up being disclosed to everyone hence his complaint.
And the court had this to say: “…if at all the claimants’ medical files are contained in the constitutional petition, it is unclear at whose instance the said files were presented to the court. Without any evidence to show who filed what, it is a he-said, she-said case before this Tribunal.”
However, PKN did not complain of unlawful disclosure but only narrated the troubles he has had accessing ARVs in prison.
Apart from the claim of unlawful disclosure of their status, the two narrated their ordeal and the discrimination they suffered at the hands of warders. Their constitutional petition is pending in court.
The two claimants are inmates at Kamiti Maximum Prison and have been living with HIV for several years. The claimants each have additional ailments for which they are receiving treatment.
In their suit filed before the HIV tribunal, the two said their rights have been violated by the officers at the prison due to the frequent denial of treatment and failure to be taken to hospital when required. They also claim illegal or negligent handling of their HIV status or medical records by the officers working in prison.
As a result, they have continued to face deteriorating health, pain and suffering, mental anguish as well as stigma and discrimination as HIV patients.
PMM testified before the tribunal saying his health is poor. He suffers from haemorrhoids, asthma, tuberculosis as well as HIV.
He was arrested in 2009, held in remand in Thika from 2009 to 2010, then transferred to Kamiti Maximum Prison where he is held at present.
According to his testimony, he has not received good medical treatment for HIV while at Kamiti Maximum Prison.
At the time of testifying, he did not have the necessary drugs.
He has also not attended the regular clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He testified that even before the pandemic, the ARVs would not be supplied on time and it was a struggle to get them.
However, prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, he would be able to go to KNH for the treatment, but he would still have to struggle.
Sometimes the situation gets so bad forcing PMM to resort to bribe in order to get to the hospital, he said.
He stated that although there are other inmates at the prison who also suffer from other ailments, PMM was not aware if they, too, had to part with money to receive treatment or access the hospital.
He said the Kamiti prison has denied him access to ARVs.
That he has been to the medical facility within the prison and seen all the doctors at the facility. He has explained his predicament to them and requested his medical records, which they do not have. Whenever he requests to be taken where his medical records are, he is asked to wait. He, therefore, does not receive proper care or assistance.
PMM said sometimes the government would pay for the ARVs. Other times, he would have to pay for them through relatives. Over time, he has paid Sh75,000 which are yet to be refunded.
He has faced discrimination and isolation, when he was isolated for about a year in 2017, and the place where he was isolated is not pleasant. Since then, he mingles with other inmates.
However, in 2017, he did not receive ARVs for almost an entire year. He was constantly being transferred.
First to Naivasha Prison for one month, then back to Kamiti and then to Nyeri prison. During this time, his HIV medical file got lost and it is not possible to receive treatment without a file.
The second inmate is PKN. He has not been to the KNH for treatment since November 15, 2019.
He struggles to obtain ARVs and has poor health. In addition to being HIV positive, PKN suffers problems with his spinal cord and cerebral strictures.
He was arrested in Embu in 2004 and imprisoned at the Embu G.K. Prison.
He was admitted at the Embu Provincial Hospital and then transferred to KNH because he required specialised treatment. Despite a removal order issued by the Embu court, PKN had to pay some money for the order to be extracted.
On cross-examination, PKN confirmed that despite paying Sh1,000 for the extraction of the court order, he did not go back to court to inform it of the non-adherence by the relevant parties.
At Kamiti Maximum Prison, he would encounter difficulty in receiving treatment.
He has had to use his personal finances to purchase the ARVs, although he did not produce any receipts in support of the claim.
PKN testified that one time the prison wardens referred to him as "dead man walking".
He has no friends and has been isolated.
In reply, a clinical officer attached to Kamiti Maximum Prison testified saying he has met the two and attended to them.
He denied that the two inmates have been neglected but insisted that on several occasions, it is the claimants that have been uncooperative.
-Edited by SKanyara