A GROUP of activists marched to the offices of the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) on Wednesday to hand over a petition, calling on the government to drop an appeal in a case against a group of women they believed were forcibly sterilised.
“Nobody is here to see us, so we will read our statement and go,” Rosa Namises, one of the organisers of the march said.
MoHSS spokesperson Ester Paulus told The Namibian that on Monday somebody from the group (Women’s Health Network) called her ministry asking who would receive the petition at the offices and was advised to make an appointment with the permanent secretary to arrange for an appropriate date.
Paulus said that this was not done and that both health minister Richard Kamwi and permanent secretary Andrew Ndishishi were at the Office of the Prime Minister meeting the visiting Ethiopian health minister and could not meet the demonstrators.
She said late yesterday Kamwi travelled to the north while most of the directors of MoHSS were out of town. The health deputy minister Petrina Haingura returned to the country on Tuesday.
“I advised them to find the best date by consulting the PS,” Paulus said.
But Namises claimed that from the beginning Kamwi had told the organisers that he will not receive the petition.
“The petition must also have been discussed before hand,” Paulus said.
Three women who were subjected to coerced sterilisation brought their cases before the High Court and on 30 July 2012 it was established that the women had been subjected to coerced sterilisation but no steps have allegedly been taken since the judgement to ensure those responsible were held accountable.
Instead of addressing the problem, the government appealed the High Court decision, Namises said. Since the High Court decision, women seeking sterilisation as a form of family planning, are required to produce an affidavit before such a procedure can be performed, a move the group said was unnecessary and hindered access to reproductive health services.
They called on the MoHSS to issue circulars to all hospitals, emphasising the right of all women to obtain family planning, including sterilisation, and reminding medical personnel that informed consent is the only requirement prior to providing women with the desired medical services.
