By Prudence Minayo
Dr. Kizzie Shako is Kenya’s first female police surgeon, also referred to as a forensic physician. In a past interview aired on KTN, she stated that what propelled her to join the field of medicine was to work with the dead and to investigate crimes. When the opportunity to work at the City mortuary came, she was excited.
She is a defender of human rights, the founder of Vunja Kimya Foundation and also a blogger. Having worked with various victims of domestic and sexual abuse, she was inspired to start writing a blog in 2015 titled Vunja Kimya. The blog shares stories from victims of assault and also teaches people how to avoid getting into violent situations.
Here is the story of Dr. Kizzie Shako as told by WoK.
Education
She graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nairobi’s College of Health Sciences. She went on to pursue other courses in forensics, namely: Forensics Anthropology, Disaster Victim Identification and Clinical Forensic Medicine. The 40-year-old (as of 2022) has also pursued a Master in Forensic Medicine (MFM) from Monash University.
Career
Dr. Kizzie Shako began working as an A&E doctor at Kenyatta National Hospital in 2010. The same year, she became a senior medical officer at the Ministry of Health, Division of Forensic and Pathology Services. She worked under the direct supervision of the Chief government pathologist. In this role, she gained skills in performing autopsies, printing court evidence, advising on crime scene management, specimen collection and exhumations. She also learnt disaster victim identification and worked with victims of the Westgate and Garissa University College terrorist attack, as well as Sinai fire victims. She was involved in the process of identification and handling of evidence.
Also Read: Dr. Sylvia Vigehi Shitsama Nyamweya: Meet Kenya’s First Female Neurosurgeon
In 2012, she became a police surgeon at the Ministry of Health- National Police Service. In this role, she saw various victims of domestic violence and helped in the filling of P3 forms. It was the first time she was working with the living rather than the dead. She examined documents pertaining to injury cases resulting from physical assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, terrorist attacks, and child abuse among others. She was also involved in the collection of data on sexual violence and collaborating with SGBV networks to donate clinical supplies so as to enhance quality of forensic services.
In 2017, she founded the Vunja Kimya Foundation. The foundation was formed after she had seen numerous cases of violence targeted towards women and children. The aim of the organization is to teach the society about basic risk factors that lead to violence, the driving forces and dynamics behind child abuse, sexual violence and intimate partner violence.
From May 2021 to April 2022, she served as the special medical board member at the National Police Service Commission.
In April 2022, she called it a day as police surgeon and senior medical officer at the Ministry of Health, Division of Forensic and Pathology Services.
Current positions
From January 2020, she has been serving as an associate editor at Elsevier, FSL Synergy.
From July 2021, she has been the secretary at Gender Welfare in Sports Committee
In February 2022, she became an independent consultant at E.S.C.A.P.E at Forensic and Medicolegal Consultancy.
Personal Life
Dr. Kizzie Shako is a mother, daughter and sister. She has credited her mother for playing a major role in her life. When she began her blog, it was her mother who did the proofreading and editing.
