I am heartbroken. Some monsters have taken an innocent life.
The monsters, hiding under the cover of darkness, needlessly killed Dr Victoria Bobe in her own home in Chigumula, Blantyre.
Bobe, a lecturer in the School of Medicine and Oral Health under the Department of Obstetrics at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, had everything to live for. After all, she was only 33.
The gynaecologist and obstetrician was a selfless individual, offering top-notch services to mothers and children at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre and wherever she offered consultancy services, be it in Malawi or abroad. Indeed, she did not only serve mothers and children; she served youths, too. I am talking about her students. She also served adults, considering that mature entry is the in-thing in universities now.
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Today, following her violent death, there is anxiety in Chigumula’s Viphya Avenue neighbourhood, which she called home.
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Let me say that I know the doctor. Through our journalists’ organisation, namely Media Aids and Health Watch (Mawa), we often sought advice on medical issues from her. Indeed, her concern was always that whenever Malawian journalists are writing about children and women’s health issues, they often throw ethics aside.
For instance, just last year, she told us—Mawa members, when we were preparing a paper on ‘Children-focused Health Reporting and Ethical Considerations’—that she had come across several newspaper articles about organisations and individuals making donations to paediatric units of public hospitals. She said in at least six cases, she had seen pictures of children, whose parents did not grant permission, appear in newspapers, faces unpixellated.
In other cases, she indicated, the picture of a mother wiping a baby after the baby had answered the call of nature appeared in the background of a picture that appeared in one online platform. Such things always concerned her, not just as a medical expert but as a mother, too.
So, you can clearly see that, at 33 years and less, she had, at heart, the best interests of patients and children. She wanted people’s privacy to be respected. She wanted a nation in the best of health.
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Unfortunately, vipers with no souls have robbed us of such an important person. And the impact of her loss is huge.
Yesterday, after I bought chicken pieces at the makeshift market outside Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and was about to head towards my workplace, I came across two nurses—senior ones, for that matter—who were discussing the issue of traffic congestion. They had just disembarked from a minibus at Red Cross Stage. From nowhere, one of them said: “Moti lero tikuyika Doctor Bobe zoona [are we really laying to rest Dr Bobe today]?”
There was a tinge of sadness and disbelief in her voice. The other nurse, probably taken by surprise and brought back to the sad reality of this week, did not answer.
I heard the words, too, and, from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital to The Times Group offices along Scott Road, Ginnery Corner, Blantyre, I thought about Dr Bobe. I thought about her willingness, no matter how busy she was, to offer advice to others on medical issues, including on how to report on such issues. I thought about her generosity with time. She was always busy, yes, but always spared some time to shed light on one or two things to media personnel.
Maybe, before I put my pen down, let me say that whenever I and fellow journalists visited her office to seek advice on one or two things—including when we were preparing for presentations on health issues—the first thing she would say was: “You people need a bottle of water!” That, to me, demonstrated her selflessness.
So, my message to those who have taken her life is that, you can run, you can hide but you cannot escape. Sooner, rather than later, you will be netted and face the full strength of the law. In fact, Dr Bobe knows where you are and will guide justice’s never fading light right where you are.
