Police arrest second nurse in Esther Mwakazi HIV misdiagnosis saga

Ms Esther Mwakazi and her husband Fredrick Onyango Omondi (left) at Haki Afrika offices in Mombasa on October 17, 2017. Police in Diani have arrested a nurse who is suspected to have misdiagnosed Ms Mwakazi in July last year. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Diani OCPD Patrick Oduma confirmed the arrest, saying the suspect, a nurse, was arrested on Tuesday and she will be charged in court on Wednesday.
  • Ms Mwakazi’s husband Fredrick Omondi said his wife was tested by the nurse at the Diani Health Centre in Kwale County, where she was declared HIV positive.

Police in Diani have arrested a nurse who is suspected to have misdiagnosed a woman during an HIV test in mid-July last year.

Ms Esther Mwakazi was misdiagnosed in a Kwale public hospital and put on ARVs for three months, together with her one-year-old son. She is now seeking justice after another test by a government agency found that she was negative.

Diani OCPD Patrick Oduma confirmed the arrest, saying the suspect, a nurse, was arrested on Tuesday and she will be charged in court on Wednesday. However Mr Oduma did not explain where or how she was arrested.

A source told the Daily Nation that the suspect presented herself at the Diani Police Station after a warrant for her arrest was issued.

“She is in police custody. We have been hunting her down ever since the story appeared in the Daily Nation in October. I don’t have the charges as at now but she will be charged in court tomorrow (Wednesday),” said Mr Oduma.

She is the second nurse to be charged for the misdiagnosis on Ms Mwakazi after another nurse was arrested and charged in Kwale courts.

Ms Mwakazi’s husband Fredrick Omondi said his wife was tested by the nurse at the Diani Health Centre in Kwale County, where she was declared HIV positive.

GET JUSTICE

“A senior official of the Kenya National Union of Nurses in Kwale County has been sabotaging our efforts to get justice ever since the misdiagnosis. But I am glad the suspect has been arrested,” Mr Omondi told the Nation.

Mr Omondi said his wife was now set to get justice, with the arrest of the suspect.

“She is the one who confirmed my wife’s status. She brought the nightmare in the life of my wife who has suffered a lot. We pursued this matter with my wife in order to enable other people who have been misdiagnosed get justice,” he said.

He wondered why a health worker would put a person on antiretroviral drugs yet they are not HIV positive.

He urged Kenyans to seek a second and even third opinion after being tested.

“There must be nongovernmental organization funding discordant couples no wonder the nurse put my wife on the ARV’s,” he added.