Jail prescription wasn't sweet but worth it

Kenyans know you for the doctors’ strike. Is there something else to Dr Ouma Oluga?

I am passionate about life, my country and medicine. Generally I am a very strict and disciplined person. That’s how I view myself.

Did you set out to do medicine from your boyhood days?

There was a time I wanted to be a preacher. At some point I admired former Attorney General Amos Wako and I wanted to be a lawyer. I also toyed with the idea of becoming a musician: I sang in the choir. I gave thought to many career options but eventually settled on medicine.

What mattered when you decided on medicine?

My father used to tell me that since he was a teacher I should be a doctor. But the actual shift towards medicine happened while I was in high school largely because of the influence my teachers had over me. In my early primary school days however I was what you would call a joker.

How so?

I used to tail in class. I would be number 27 out of 36 – or thereabouts. One term in Standard Six I was 36 out of 36. And remember it was a village school where if you tailed you likely remained stuck there for the rest of your life.

What changed; so that you are a doctor today?

My father died the next term after that awful performance. His death must have had a shock effect because my attitude changed. In Standard Seven I joined the top ten bracket. I was the best student at KCPE in class eight.

Your youth is quite unmistakable: how old are you?

I am 32

Are you a family man?

Not yet. I am not married.

Are you going to get married?

Of course

There is someone special?

I am dating

Is she a doctor?

No comment

What do you cherish in a wife?

Respect for the other person’s space. Also, someone we can have a good conversation with.

I also wanted to find out...

... and of course she has to be beautiful: very beautiful.

(Laughter) Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder

I don’t agree with many people on that. When a beautiful woman walks past a group of men all of them are likely to stare at her. Beauty is universal. A woman may be dark, light or whatever colour but if she is beautiful it is unmistakable. The standards of beauty are universal.

And for Dr Oluga there seems to be a threshold this lady has to surpass?

(Laughter) Yes. Beautiful is beautiful. You can’t use words on it. That is why some men say, ‘she is beautiful I can’t even describe’.

To maintain good grades, and to perform well through medical school, did you have to avoid dating and romance?

They say being a doctor is number one contraception. There is some truth to that. There is a lot of investment I put in medicine especially in terms of time. That means there is loss of opportunities against social life.

You wish you had settled down earlier?

Yes. Like when I was around 25. By the time I was 19 I was already mature – mentally and physically as well.

So far, any major regrets in life?

I have lived my life fairly ok. If I were to die today I would tell God ‘Thank you’. I look back through my life and I think I have made fairly good use of my time here on Earth.

A doctor talking about dying is quite an oxymoron?

Aaaa-huh! Yes; sometimes it is not good to talk about such things.

It is like you have accepted that it is the fate of humanity?

Even doctors fear death. But probably not as much as everyone else.

Last month you and other KMPDU officials were imprisoned and you were taken to Kamiti. How was the experience?

Prison is not good. You should never wish it on your worst enemy. But I learnt a few things: prisoners are human beings, the wardens are supportive and prisoners have a million and one stories to tell.

Were you treated like a VIP?

No. I had my own cell but in the morning I lined up with everyone else. I would squat with everyone else when they were counting people. I took the same porridge without sugar. The whole experience reminded me of my childhood.

How many nights did you spend in prison?

Two. But the first night I spent at the prison’s ‘hospital’ because I had severe headache.

All doctors were on strike, who attended to you at ‘the hospital’?

There was a prisoner there they called ‘doctor’. Of course he was not a professional doctor. They didn’t even have painkillers. I slept and by morning my headache had dissipated. When my fellow prisoners learnt that I was a doctor they were happy.

Did you attend to any prisoner while you were there?

We had agreed that if we would be jailed we would take our practice to prison. And yes, the next morning I was attending to sick prisoners.

You don’t sound like you would like to go back there?

Let me say this: what takes you to prison should be worth it. What takes your freedom and liberty (in prison) should be worth it that it gives it back to you.

Do you prefer being Dr Ouma Oluga or just Ouma Oluga?

I prefer being Ouma Oluga. There is some discomfort in living a public life. As a private citizen, I engage myself in sports and have a cold drink in the evening.

What type of cold drink?

Cold soft drink.