An investigative report on cases of abuse against agricultural firm Kakuzi has found that the majority of cases of abuse reported against the firm were faked.
The report that was authored by an investigative committee led by jurist and former judge Violet Mavisi says that up to 95 per cent of the 174 reported cases of abuse against Kakuzi were staged.
The investigation that was led Justice (Rtd) Mavisi had focused on alleged abuses perpetrated by the company’s security guards.
The report focused on providing information on the results, outcomes and trends of the cases reported to the Independent Human Rights Mechanism (IHRM) of Kakuzi’s Operational Grievance Mechanism (OGM) commonly locally known as SIKIKA 2. The bulk of these cases relate to the alleged severe human rights impact by Kakuzi guards in early September 2014.
The complaints were filed by 70 men and 104 women. The allegations featured sexual harassment and assault (five percent), assault (79 percent), destruction of property (4 percent) and others (12 percent).
It showed that some victims visited one particular facility in 2018, but their records alleged medical treatment entries dated 2014.
“Dishonesty in the allegations made by some complainants and witnesses (was a challenge faced) the members of the community in subject spent substantial amounts of money to obtain medical records to the extent of selling off personal assets,” the report by retired Justice Mavisi said.
The report found that some incidents alleged to have been committed in 2014 from one medical facilities were on cards printed in 2018. Other incidents were reported to have been attended at a medical facility that is not registered by the government.
“The person found at the facility is not a medical doctor, but he has been identified by several complaints as the person providing documents to support complaints of alleged severe human impacts. The going charges for such ‘fake’ medical record, we have been informed, ranges between 1,000 to 2,000 shillings,” the report cited.
The report further noted that some medical facilities that the complainants said they had visited were not in existent in 2014. Some patients were also found not to have been present in out patient registry of other medical facilities.
“Patients (were) not found in the facility’s Out Patient register, or any other register, or another person’s name found on the said date and with the said Out Patient Number of the complainant’s card,” the Mavisi report said.
