The Katsina State Government, through the Emirate Council, has sacked the District Head of Kuraye, Abubakar Abdullahi-Ahmadu, for presiding over a marriage contract without the required medical certificates as provided by law.

A statement by the Director of Press Affairs in the Office of the Secretary To The State Government, Abdullahi Yar’adua, said the action followed a recommendation by the Katsina Emirate Council after a petition was received and investigated by the Emirate Council.

The statement added that one of the parties is HIV positive.

In reaction to the development, the embattled District Head, Abubakar Abdullahi-Ahmadu, said that the government and the Emirate Council seemed to throw the blame at each other, even though the so-called petition was written to the state government, and not the Emirate Council, where he is an employee as a district head.

According to him, “The two persons in question, approached me to preside over their marriage, as the legal guardian of one of them, saying that in this regard, and as the law provides, on the stigmatisation of people with HIV, I led them to the relevant consulting medical doctor, and later to the State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA)”.

He added that they were appropriately counselled on the marriage, and they both agreed to abide by the rules involved.

In such cases, it is known that where one or both parties are HIV positive, the rule on stigmatisation and discrimination precludes any issue of a medical certificate.

The embattled district head further added that all the facts of the case, including the letter of agreement by the man, the drugs recommended by the medical doctor, the SACA counselling, and the confidentiality agreement, were presented to the state government.

He concluded by saying, “Let the public that has been exposed to this unjust action be the judges”.  

(Editor: Ena Agbanoma)   

Culled from AIT Live