We welcome this High Court decision

Mmegi Editor | Wednesday August 27, 2014 14:44

Justice Bengbame Sechele ordered the government to provide ARVs to foreign inmates because it is a constitutional right to life.  In its arguments, the government had insisted that it was facing financial challenges, and that the applicants were convicted criminals who should not benefit from their crimes.  What was intriguing about the government’s stance, however, is the fact that it was providing the inmates with free treatment for opportunistic diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia.

In his ruling, the judge said the refusal to provide foreign prisoners with ARVs posed a danger to citizen inmates. Indeed, he was right. As a nation that still believes in the extended family, and where there is a lot of interaction, this immediately reminds us of our relatives, friends, and neighbours who were incarcerated and released after serving their time. Although we may not have the statistics, we are fully aware that many of these former inmates never stayed long before death befell them. Most of them were dying of tuberculosis or of some unknown disease. What the judge said – that the ultimate result of the denial or deprivation of ARVs to foreign inmates created a Catch 22 situation that could have long been avoided – is absolutely correct. It is for this reason that we support Friday’s ruling by the Gaborone High Court.

If indeed the government is unable to provide ARVs for foreign inmates, then the other option could be to release them and repatriate them. It is common knowledge that countries have bilateral agreements that guide them on what to do with each other’s citizens found on the wrong side of the law in their shores and what should be done for them to complete their sentences.

We also support this ruling fully aware that there are some individuals out there who will exploit it. There are those who may, upon realising that they have contracted HIV go on a rampage committing crimes so that they could be jailed to benefit from free ARVs. This may sound unrealistic, but we can bet that there are people who may think along those lines. Lastly, it is important for government officials, policy makers and others to seriously think over and debate issues before adopting such critical positions as denying people life saving services on the basis of colour, race, educational background and others.

                                                                      Today’s thought

“ The lessons this life has planted in my heart pertain more to caring than crops, more to Golden Rule than gold, more to the proper choice than to the popular choice.”

 

                                                        - Kirby Larson, Hattie Big Sky, 2006