Doctor Admits Treating Patients Without Valid Licence During High-Profile Eldoret Murder Trial
A Uasin Gishu-based doctor has confessed before the High Court in Eldoret that he attended to patients and signed a P3 form without renewing his practising licence since 2018.
Doctor admits in Eldoret court to treating patients and signing medical documents for years without a valid practising licence as murder trial involving lawyer Abel Mogaka nears conclusion. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
A medical doctor attached to a Uasin Gishu County hospital told an Eldoret court, in a pretty high profile kind of way, that he treated patients for years without a valid practising licence, you know, from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council.
This came out in the hearing of a seven-year-old murder case, where lawyer Abel Mogaka is accused of fatally stabbing his colleague Calvin Ngaira during a house party in Eldoret.
Testifying before Justice Robert Wananda, Doctor Christopher Kiprono admitted that he attended to patients and signed medical papers even after he failed to renew his practising licence since 2018 ,which is against the rules in Kenya for medical practitioners.
“Mogaka was driven to the hospital in a prison van complaining of injuries he alleged to have sustained following a vicious fight with the slain lawyer and I attended to him before signing the P3 form even though I had not renewed my license since 2018,” Kiprono told the court.
He also said that when he filled out the accused person’s P3 form on June 25, 2019, he still did not have a valid practising licence from the council.
Kiprono, who appeared as the final prosecution witness, got cross examined by Senior Counsel Brenda Oduor as the murder trial was nearing the end.
The prosecution had lined up at least 14 witnesses, among them scene-of-crime officers, trying to strengthen the case against Mogaka, 42, who denies killing his colleague.
Prosecutors allege that Mogaka stabbed Ngaira, 28, using a broken beer bottle after a disagreement, over a bottle of whisky worth Ksh.1,000 during a three day house party. The party happened on May 18, 2019 at an apartment in the Annex area, along the Eldoret-Nakuru highway.
They said the meeting was attended by more than 15 people, and it was hosted by a mutual friend named Roy.
When it came to his defence, Mogaka told the court that a fight started between him and the deceased after an argument during the event escalated.
“Your lordship, it is true as per the CCTV footage that two people seen beating the deceased are me and the other man holding a rungu,” Mogaka said.
Still, he rejected claims that he was carrying a sharp object used to stab the lawyer.
“In fact, I used my left hand to fight back but I missed hitting the deceased and my hand instead landed on his T-shirt on the lower part of his body,” he added.
The prosecution produced a blood stained black-and-white T-shirt believed to be the deceased’s, plus a broken piece of glass recovered from the scene, as exhibits.
After the testimony, Justice Wananda ordered that the matter be mentioned on July 29 for final submissions, and also to fix a date for judgment, as the court moves ahead.
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