Nairobi — There is a fundamental human right that the proposed constitution has left out of the Bill of Rights: The right to emergency treatment. As it is, the number of road accidents is disproportionately high compared to the number of vehicles on our highways, yet the country lacks an elaborate system to respond to emergencies.

As a rule, when a motorist hits a pedestrian, he or she is required to take the victim to hospital at his or her own cost. As a result, a whole range of decisions is left to the discretion of the motorist because the pedestrian, in all likelihood, has no form of insurance that can guarantee him or her access to quality emergency treatment.

However, a challenge arises whenever two vehicles collide. In serious instances, none of the drivers involved is in a position to take anyone to hospital. Almost always, this job is left to other motorists who happen to be passing by.

The problem with this arrangement is that in some instances, the victims are not in a position to tell their doctors that their benefactors are not to blame. So the good Samaritans have to record their details with the hospital and even pay the initial fee for the victim's treatment. Sometimes, they are regarded as suspects and woe unto you if an accident victim dies in your vehicle.

Pay taxes

As one writer observed many years ago, although Kenyans continue to pay taxes, they still seek to provide private solutions to public problems. They are like the youths who fill up potholes on rural access roads even when their councillor is busy investing the money allocated to repair such roads.

What the ministries of Roads and Transport need to do is to set up a National Highways Emergency Response Unit, or something like that to provide timely assistance for accident victims by using helicopters and a fleet of ambulances. This might sound like too much to ask in a country where fire engines are always grounded.

However, one should remembered that only last week, the ministry of Finance said it was looking for Sh8 billion for infrastructure expansion which would soon make Kenyan roads the envy of the region. Even if it were to achieve this, it would still be failing road users unless it can put in place a superstructure to enforce safety rules and respond to emergencies.

Proper care

What has been happening is that accident victims have been left at the mercy of wananchi, which invariably makes some cases worse. One victim who is now confined to a wheelchair said on TV two weeks ago that her spinal cord injury was made worse by the many hands which were pulling and tugging her as eager wananchi tried to get her out of a vehicle that had rolled just outside Nairobi.

If she had received proper care at that point, she would still be walking today. Sadly, she might never. And she is not alone. Those who have been involved in accidents may also have noted that police emergency telephone lines do not work.

The proposed agency would be under obligation to provide hotlines through which the public can report accidents. And it should be funded in such a way that it will have functional units on every major highway and in urban centres to ensure that its services are available at short notice.

True, there are accidents which could be avoided. In fact, there are some which should not be called accidents at all since they are caused by too much haste and lack of caution by drivers. But since they happen, those involved are still entitled to some form of treatment either at the scene or in hospital.

And if we can find the Sh8 billion we need to transform our highways, there is absolutely no reason why we cannot find another Sh1 billion to provide emergency services for their users. That way we will increase the currency of life, which as it is now, has been devalued by the high number of preventable deaths and injuries on our roads.

The people who grew up with him might not know it but Samuel Kamau Mungai is a man of extraordinary courage. When he was only three months old, he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition characterised by the swelling of the head due to fluid retention.

At the age of 13, just days before he sat his KCPE examinations, he had to undergo an operation to drain the fluid. With the help of his headmaster, Samuel was taken to Kikuyu Mission Hospital and later to Kijabe Hospital where he was operated on several times. Most children diagnosed with the disease die young. Many do not live to see their fourteenth birthday, but Samuel is now 30 and going strong.

Reason to sing

In the last 17 years, he has been operated on 10 times, yet this has not dampened his spirits. He still finds a reason to sing every day and will not allow his condition to stop him from doing things for himself. In the past, he used to work at construction sites but this was putting a strain on his health.

These days, he looks after his mother's cow and he has now started a flower and vegetable garden in front of his one-roomed house in Muchatha. For a person who did not start walking until the age of five -- and even then with a walking stick -- Samuel has come a long way and he still bustles with energy and enthusiasm, a smile lighting his face. If there are people who face the challenges of life with courage, Samuel is one of them.

Kenya is still a good place to bring up your children

Dear KenyansWhile on a tree-planting mission organised by the Nation Media Group at the weekend, I met a Finnish woman and a Frenchman who are in Kenya to lend a hand in saving Lake Nakuru from pollution. After talking about their contribution to help us help ourselves, I asked them how Kenya compared to other countries.

"It is paradise compared to India," said the woman. She said the levels of poverty in India are debilitating. She said she never saw a supermarket. "You have to buy everything in the streets." The problem, at least for her, was that whenever one bought something to eat on the streets, she would develop discomfort in the stomach because the levels of cleanliness were wanting.

When she came to Kenya, her greatest fear was for her safety but she quickly realised she had no reason to worry. In fact she and her French friend was greeted with smiles "probably because we are wazungu" as he put it. The conversation reminded me of what a Japanese researcher in Bungoma told me some time back.

According to Mr Ken Ichi Bamba, who works with the Japanese International Co-operation Agency, his relatives back home could not understand why he wanted to work in "a war zone". And every time they call or write he has to keep reminding them that the country is not as insecure as others he had been to in Asia.

These almost similar views by three people from such diverse backgrounds are testimony to the fact that Kenya is a great country. Hillary Clinton said as much during her visit mid this year. In her own words, "Kenya was a good place to bring up your children".

So why do we go about our business as though Kenya was the meanest and baddest corner of the world? Why do we always bemoan our condition when we could find something to be happy about if we cared to look? True, it is our responsibility to make our country better but is constant criticism and whining the only way to achieve this?

As you may have noted, there is still the perception that Kenya is a land at a war with itself. There is some truth in this if you consider that the issues that sparked last year's violence have not been addressed. Which could mean that in two years, there could be turmoil in this paradise, which means it will be paradise no more.

We have to decide whether we want to start mourning the loss of our innocence now or we can take proactive steps to ensure that we build a homely country where both the eagle and the kite can have the freedom to perch on any tree. Over to you.