Days after being exposed for practising medicine without a certificate, quack doctor Ronald Kiprotich Melly has been endorsed to run for a political office in the upcoming 2017 General Election.
Melly, who was released on Sh500,000 bond, was given a heroic welcome at his rural home in Tinderet, Nandi County.
The proud residents also endorsed Melly for the Tinderet MCA seat terming his illegal practice of medicine as very “successful”.
Some of Melly's supporters stated that he should not be punished but instead be trained for him to fully continue with his good work while others testified that they had received quality care from their 'son'.
Melly, who was arrested in Nairobi on Monday last week, faced three charges namely; forgery of documents, using the title doctor without being licensed or registered, and impersonation of a medical officer.
Last week, Nandi County Chief Health Officer Dr Edward Serem told the county’s health committee that the fake doctor had carried out nine caesareans and 21 minor surgeries.
Out of the nine major surgeries, eight were successful but one led to the death of a woman while giving birth even though Melly and his team were able to save the baby.
“During the surgery, he and a group of other doctors carried out, the patient who was then expectant died because she was on 'stage four' of the complication but they managed to save the baby,” Serem explained.
The Nandi Health Committee had also recommended that Melly should be trained instead of being punished.
The development comes after it emerged that the fake doctor had scored a grade C- in his KCSE results and not the B he had claimed.
The chairman of the board of Tinderet Secondary School, advocate Paul Lilan, confirmed that in 2008 when Melly sat for his KCSE exams, the best grade the class posted was a B- (minus) and not B as claimed by the suspect.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPU) stated that the rise of Melly's star without the right credentials was as a result of tribalism and corruption in Nandi County.
The union's secretary-general Ouma Oluga stated that KMPU had last year sent seven names of qualified doctors to be considered for medical positions but all were rejected as the government hired two others, one of them being Melly - a grandson of a former KANU politician Ezekiel Barngetuny.
