It is now almost certain that President Uhuru Kenyatta will not reimpose lockdown as a way to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The certainty comes after county chiefs ruled out lockdown among proposals they intend to present to the President today during a meeting on how to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The President’s meeting with the governors follows concern of a surge in Covid-19 infections in the country.
As of Sunday, the country had recorded 17603 cases with Nairobi county leading in the number of cases.
The county bosses who were calling for the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, a call that health experts have dismissed, seem to have now changed their tune on the demand.
Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said they want Nairobi left open “as it is the hub of Kenya’s economic activities.”
Oparanya said at the meeting they will implore upon the President on the need to increase testing centers across the country.
As such, the governors seek to push for quick disbursement of funds from the National Treasury as they are yet to receive about Sh68 billion of their allocation for the last financial year.
“Currently, no money is flowing to counties. How do they (National Treasury) expect counties to deal with these emergencies?” “What is critical is that we must increase testing centers. We have very few of them yet every county should have a testing center,” Oparanya told the Star.
According to the governors, establishing the testing centers will create an opportunity to create awareness among residents.
“Counties will now be best placed to come up with ways of containing the disease. If we can enhance testing, it will alert us on how to contain the disease,” Oparanya said.
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Governors will also engage President Uhuru Kenyatta on concerns about laxity in the enforcement of measures by the Ministry of Health.
The governors’ concern is that the directives for social distancing, curfew, funeral attendance, and other social gatherings are not being followed.
According to them, Kenyans openly disregard the protocols as police look away.
