Soft spoken Murugi plays hardball

While addressing an MPs’ workshop last week, Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi suggested that HIV/Aids victims should be isolated to curb the spread of the disease. Photo/ FILE  

By BILLY MUIRURIPosted Friday, February 4 2011 at 16:15

From prescribing that HIV/Aids victims be quarantined to calling for the recognition of homosexuals, soft-spoken Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi seems to have a knack of stirring controversy. But the Nyeri Town MP tells Saturday Nation writer BILLY MUIRURI, that she is just realistic

How has it been at the ministry of Special Programmes?

It is hectic and unpredictable. At the ministry of Gender and Children, it was more about policy work, while here it is about fire fighting. I am supposed to coordinate line ministries but some think we are at par and, therefore, we should not tell them what to do.

How is the drought situation in the country?

We need about six million bags of maize but we only have three million in the strategic grain reserve. We wanted to buy maize at Sh1,500 per bag but the Cabinet insisted on Sh1,800. This meant we bought fewer bags and the consumer would get maize products at a higher price. There was a lot of maize in the Rift Valley and we should not be talking of hunger.

Did you see the drought coming?

Yes. The Meteorological Department issued an alert last September. We conveyed it to line ministries such as Water, Livestock Development, Agriculture and Regional Development in October with mitigation proposals, but nobody took us seriously.

January is over and you have not closed down all IDP camps as you promised. Why?

At the beginning, Sh8 billion was needed to buy land and help settle the IDPs. So far, we have spent Sh2.6 billion; Sh2.9 billion was set aside to buy land. But land buying is a long process and it is the ministry of Lands that buys land, not us. We have also had to grapple with suitability of the land we are buying to the people’s needs.

Why did you land in trouble with the community in Mau Narok over purchase of land to settle IDPs?

I believe someone was playing politics. The community was aware the land was being sold but some people raised issues only after the cheque was given to the owner. They said it was community land. Yet there are three parcels next to it owned by individuals. Why is it that it is the piece we bought that is community land?

So how many IDPs are yet to be resettled?

We have classified them. We have 6,973 in Ol Kalao, Molo, Rongai and Naivasha; 2,553 in Turkana, and 640 in Uganda. There are 3,360 evictees from the Mau Forest and another 350,000 who moved out of their homes and settled elsewhere.

While addressing an MPs’ workshop last week, you suggested that HIV/Aids victims should be isolated to curb the spread of the disease. That has elicited sharp reaction, with some calling for your resignation. What exactly did you say? (We publish the verbatim report)

“In Cuba, when President Castro was still very strong, anybody who was tested with HIV/AIDS was actually locked somewhere, and once you went in, you did not come out. I don’t know whether we should be that drastic or what we should do.

“But sometimes, I think maybe that is what we should do so that those who are locked in, am just suggesting, it is up to you to tell me whether we should do that or not. It is not right but that is what he did and that is why in his country there is almost zero contamination.

“It is discrimination, but that is how he thought he should deal with it. Am saying what we should do is to start thinking outside the box and we should do what needs to be done. We are generals, we are soldiers, and we have to win the war. So it is up to you to look for the best method that will ensure we win this war of HIV/AIDS.”

So what was your message in this comparison?

I wanted the MPs to look at the figures and see what to do. We must be decisive on HIV/AIDS. It is scaring how the virus is spreading. Out of 39 million Kenyans, only 4.5 million have undergone tests. Of these, 1.5 million have tested positive. Only 350,000 are on antiretrovirals (ARVs).

We have more than 10 million Kenyans, who do not know their status. We must stop hiding our heads in the sand when it comes to real issues affecting us.

We must get a drastic solution to the AIDS pandemic. We have made it a national disaster and, therefore, we must get solutions. That does not mean we go the Castro way. It is not even workable in Kenya.

HIV/AIDS activists say they have written to you and have threatened to demonstrate against you if you do not apologise…

I am yet to receive any letter from them. I invite them to review the full clip of what I said. They are getting distorted information from third parties. I will only apologise if the true record of my speech is offensive.

So, what do you suggest should be done to tackle HIV/Aids?

We agreed we must try to reach the more than one million victims, who are not yet on ARVs. We have also recommended that we can build a generic factory for HIV drugs like Brazil did. They also built a condom factory. It can also be done here if that will drastically arrest the rising new cases.

Earlier in Mombasa, your remarks on recognition of gays also brushed many people the wrong way. Do you regret making the statement?

I do not. I repeat that most of us are pretenders. Gays are here with us. I had a petition that many of them are not treated well in hospitals. If we recognise them, we will manage them better. They are a most at risk group, especially those who have girlfriends or wives.

Then there is the widely circulated photograph where you pose with gays. Comment.

I had no problem with the picture. It was their meeting; a meeting of those most risk. There were lesbians, sex workers and gays. It happened that someone decided the best picture was the one I was with gays. I called for their recognition so that the Church can come out and counsel them.