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{
    "id": 700413,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/700413/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 114,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Nyikal",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "In my view, we have to develop this Motion further and strengthen the forensic department of the police so that we can have doctors working there. In fact, they need to be trained. There is a bigger problem because sometimes the medical officers who fill the forms are not trained in forensic medicine. As a result, a lot of evidence is lost in the process. I know we made an attempt to get the Police Pathology Laboratory, but we all know the direction it went. So, that is what needs to be done. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I know we cannot get police surgeons in each and every hospital where people will seek this service. Therefore, there is need to coordinate well the Police Service and county health services. As at now, this is something that is left at the whim of a doctor. Many doctors feel that if they do not fill a P3 Form, they have not neglected their duty. That is where the justice system will fail. People cannot get a fair hearing if there is no evidence. This is because the Judiciary only deals with evidence that is brought before it by the police who must get it from medical officers who have filled the forms. So, the whole system is weak. So, we need to strengthen the forensic department of the police and make the relationship between the police and the county health systems clear, so that a doctor knows that, that is his or her duty. It is like what happens in a postmortem. If you call a doctor to do a postmortem for the police, he or she feels that it is not his or her job. He or she will say that his or her job is to treat people and that he or she is not a police officer. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support this Motion but we need to strengthen and expand it to include the suggestions I have made such as strengthening the forensic department of the police and having a properly structured coordination mechanism between county health services and the police. This is because it will take a long time before we get police surgeons in each and every area of police jurisdiction. With those remarks, I support the Motion."
}