Kenya’s ambassador to Namibia making a difference in health sector

On a visit to Namibia, one will find the Kenyan High Commissioner, Ambassador Peter Gitau, enjoying his work.

He even adds some extra load to his busy schedule

if that can make a difference to the Kenyans he looks after in the vast territory of Namibia, a country he has come to know pretty deeply in the just over one year he has occupied Kenya House in the middle of the city of Windhoek.

Originally from the NGO world and with a strong Christian background that was strengthened further by his professional work, he has a Calvinist attitude to his work: whatever you are given to do, do it with all your might and strength, with all your soul and will power, and to the glory of He who made you and not to that of fellow men.

Kenyans in Botswana will attest to this; people in the Botswana Government are no different. It is as if this vertically challenged individual had been waiting for this challenge all his life, and he has decided that, however brief the tour may be, he will leave behind an indelible mark of good service when it is over.

It may escape the attention of many Kenyans, but the Kenyan missions in Eastern and Southern Africa should receive the utmost attention of the foreign service gurus on Harambee Avenue in Nairobi.

These are Kenya’s first line of defence in terms of our African and global interests.

First, the bulk of our external trade begins with these members of the East African Community as well as Comesa.

Second, a good number of our people are working in these countries, and more are likely to continue working as these countries become more prosperous and as Kenya becomes even more aware that the export of brains will earn her much more foreign exchange than anything else.

This much more so if we improve our education, invest more in ICT and expand communication

with these countries.

Ambassador Gitau is fully sold to the idea, and does not miss an opportunity to prophesy his gospel of Eastern and Southern Africa integration to every Namibian he meets, particularly those who wield political power at various levels of Government.

Most Kenyans who have joined his bandwagon now are singing the song.

The Minister for Health and Social Services, Mr Richard Kamwi, gave us a 12-sitter plane to fly 800km to the northern town of Rundu to visit the

district hospital there as well as meet the Kenyan medical personnel working in the northern regions.

Thirty or so nurses and a couple of doctors travelled long distances to come and meet us.

We had met 60 plus of their colleagues in Windhoek the previous day. Coming from Nairobi, our mission was to discuss with them their work and how we can make their life better through a Memorandum

of Understanding with the Namibian Government. Within one year, Ambassador Gitau has travelled the vast territory of Namibia, visiting these nurses wherever they work, entering their homes, documenting their problems, compiling the many work and social related issues that they face and at times providing a shoulder for some to cry on.

This ambassador’s hands-on approach to his diplomatic responsibilities made our work much easier.

The nurses, on their part, had no inhibitions speaking freely and letting their grievances known since the ambassador had long broken the ice between citizen and bureaucratic power.

Along with us had come Namibia’s Chief Nursing Officer Gloria Muballe, a lady who has more or less adopted the Kenyan nurses as her children: listening to them, guiding them and appreciating all the good work they are rendering to the people of Namibia.

 It is no exaggeration to say that the motherly figure Ms Muballe cuts everywhere she goes is something that  the Kenyan nurses do not at all take for granted; it  gives them the assurance that they can feel at home in Namibia even when they come across a few cases of xenophobia once in a while.

The Kenyan Government should honour Ms Muballe, both the High Commissioner and our nurses have pleaded.

One of these days her story may rival that of Mother Theresa—if only in a miniature form!

So far close to 100 Kenyan nurses work in Namibia in the public sector; a few are to be found in the private sector and the NGO world. The Ministry of Health and Social Services has requested 100 more nurses and 26 doctors who will soon be on their way there after we conduct an open and competitive recruitment.

It is important to quality control as our nurses and doctors have already established very high standards of service delivery in Namibia.

One of the landmarks of excellent service by the  Kenyan medical professionals in Namibia is the new

Medical School at the University of Namibia (Unam) that Prof Pater Nyarango has pioneered as the dean.

No doubt a state-of-the-art venture, Prof Nyarango looks forward to extending his experience here to his fellow scholars in Kenya who are at the moment in the process of founding new medical schools.

There is no doubt that the relationship between Kenya and Namibia in medical science, training, knowledge and service delivery is already on its way to see an even deeper collaboration and exchange between the two countries.

For many years Namibian students have trained as nurses at the Kenya Medical Training College. Namibian nurses have trained at Kenyatta National Hospital in various specialties and our doctors have given specialised care to Namibians at our hospitals. A time has come for a two-way collaboration to begin in earnest.

Ambassador Gitau feels strongly that Kenya Airways should fly directly to Windhoek to speed up this process. I support that proposal.

—The writer is Minister for Medical

Services