Kenya Stockholm Blog

Ailing Embassy Official Narrowly Escapes Deportation To Kenya

A Kenya Embassy official who has been ailing for a long time escaped deportation to Kenya after a group of Embassy staff arrived at Karolinska hospital to try and take him home through Arlanda International airport.

The ailing official has been fighting a lengthy battle with the Kenyan embassy to prevent his deportation on grounds that he is too sick to travel to Kenya. According to sources, property belonging to the official have been packed into a container while members of his family (including his wife) have been put on stand by awaiting his kidnap from Karolinska hospital to Arlanda.

When a group of Kenyans heard about the official’s tribulations and that he was set to be kidnapped on Thursday November 22nd, a battalion of approximately 15 Kenyans went to the hospital to try and prevent the kidnap.

Punde si punde, the Embassy group also arrived at the hospital and packed their car nearby. When the staff members tried to get into action by communicating with the doctors to release the patient, the group of Kenyans intervened to inform the Doctors that it was wrong for the official to be deported to Kenya under the circumstances.

The Embassy had mobilized a woman Doctor from Kenya to oversee the whole operation because the Swedish authorities had refused to release the patient if he could not be accompanied to Kenya by a Doctor. A source told KSB that the Kenyan woman Doctor is a dermatologist who is not in a position to understand the condition of the ailing official who is not suffering from any skin disease. The Official has been in the ICU where he has been on a drip for months.

As arguments ensued, a van designed for transportation of patients which had been hired by the Embassy arrived at the hospital to transport the official to the airport. When the Kenyans were alerted about this development, the whole group rushed down stairs from the 6th floor (where the official is being treated) and occupied the van, making it impossible for the Official to be loaded into the van.

As tension rose, the Kenyan activists called police to try and resolve the conflict. The Embassy official has been bed-ridden and the argument put forward by the Kenyans was that the Official is unfit to travel, an argument which was also supported by the Swedish Doctors.

One of the Doctors advised that it was better for those concerned to put an appeal with the Immigration department so that the Official can be allowed to stay to complete his treatment. Police who came at the scene and looked at the case then decided to consult with the Immigration.

Within minutes, an official from the Immigration arrived to asses the situation. After preliminary investigations, the Immigration official resolved that the matter be left pending until Friday November 23rd when a decision will be taken as to what needs to be done. The ailing Official was therefore left to relax in his hospital bed pending a decision.
 
The drama unfolded on Thursday November 22nd. The Official has been sacked from his job despite his being unable to work as a result of his condition. He has also been replaced and the person deputizing his replacement is a Swedish national.

It is not clear why the Embassy is keen in having the Official deported to Kenya in such a brutal manner even if it means Embassy staff going to hospital to physically help in plucking him from his hospital bed to Arlanda airport.

It is also not known why he is being subjected to such inhuman and degrading treatment at a time when he is helpless and in terrible pain. Some of the Embassy officials who went to help kidnap him are the same colleagues he has been working with at the Embassy for a long time.

Okoth Osewe

November 22, 2007 Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | Leave a Comment