Fake doctor 'was a danger to the women he was to help'

A magistrate has declared quack doctor James Mugo Ndichu alias Mugo Wa Wairimu a danger to society and must be kept in jail.

Nairobi chief magistrate Wendy Kagendo had no mercy for the quack doctor who was found guilty of sedating women with the intention to rape them. She sentenced him to a combined total of 32 years and six months in jail without the option of a fine.

"He is a danger to society. Instead of using the skills he acquired as a trained nurse he went out of his way to endanger the lives of women by purporting to be a gynaecologist where he sedated the victims and probably raped them," ruled Kagendo.

Her decision was not only a win for Mugo's victims but also for the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board which has been fighting to eradicate fake doctors operating unlicensed hospitals.

Kagendo sent Mugo to jail despite his pleas for mercy. He is a trained nurse with a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Nairobi. He says he opted to operate as a doctor to save lives.

Mugo in his mitigation asked the magistrate to send him to jail instead of a fine, arguing that he cannot afford to pay a fine.

"It is true he has a degree in Nursing but did not attend the subsequent internship to get a licence and certificate to practise. He used the knowledge acquired from university to administer drugs to victims and commit sexual acts with them," Kagendo said.

Although the magistrate had acquitted Mugo on the charges of rape, she ruled that there was a high possibility he raped the women after sedating them, but that there was no sufficient evidence.

Mugo said he was motivated to open and operate Prestige Healthcare Clinic in Githurai 44 within Nairobi county, without qualifications, to save lives.

He said he had a troubled past while studying at UoN and at one time had to work as an undertaker at Chiromo Mortuary to raise funds for school fees.

"My dream was to serve humanity and it is not finished. I will go to jail and after finishing my sentence I will pick up from where I left off. What I am asking the court is to waive the option of fine because I am not in a position to pay and will willingly serve the sentence," Mugo said.

Kagendo was not persuaded by Mugo's pleas for mercy and handed him the sentences for the 10 counts he was found guilty of, including sedating women and operating a clinic without a licence.

Mugo will serve only 29 years and six months after the magistrate reduced it by three years to cater for the time he spent in custody after being arrested in 2015.

"For the offence of administering substances to a woman to sedate her so as to engage in sexual intercourse, the court sentences him to 25 years in jail but the sentence will be reduced to 22 years to cater for the three years he was in remand," ruled Kagendo.

She sentenced Mugo to an additional one year each for six offences of unlawfully carrying out the business of a pharmacist while not registered, stocking and using laboratory testing kits and reagents which had not been verified and operating a medical laboratory without registration and licence.

Kagendo further sentenced him to six months each in three counts of practising as an unregistered and unlicensed doctor, gynaecologist and nurse with the sentences set to run consecutively.

The magistrate last week found the quack guilty of 10 counts of sedating women with the intention to rape them, operating a hospital and pharmacy without a licence and stocking fake medicine.

"It was disheartening that the circumstances where some of his victims found themselves without panties in his clinic lead one to conclude that his intention of sedating the women was to have sexual intercourse with them," ruled Kagendo.

The magistrate relied on the testimony of a woman identified as ABC to convict Mugo on the count of administering a substance with intent to rape her on November 1, 2014, at his clinic in Githurai 44.

The woman had in her testimony stated that Mugo had given her some drugs after which she passed out and found herself naked in another room when she regained consciousness.