As We Think Of A Lockdown, Let Us Think Of The Common Mwananchi

There are calls on President Uhuru Kenyatta to announce a total lockdown to help stop the spread of Coronavirus.

The government has already announced some measures including banning all international flights starting Wednesday midnight.

The government, through the Ministry of Health and that of Interior, ordered the closure of bars across the country until further notice.

Hotels and restaurants have been ordered not to have people sitting in them but just act as a take-away food joint for Kenyans.

Matatus have been ordered not to carry more than 60 percent of the normal passenger capacity with the majority of them already adhering to the directive.

Some counties have closed down mortuaries, ordered all bodies in morgues to be discharged for burial while giving respective families up to 24 hours to bury their loved ones.

In counties like Kilifi, patients have been ordered out of hospitals in what the county government says will help “stop the spread of Coronavirus after a potential threat.”

Some counties have banned open-air-markets, some like Machakos have banned boda-boda operations and some trade in livestock.

The rate at which county governments are banning “things” to stop the “spread of Coronavirus” calls for the national government to intervene and give directive or people will die of hunger.

Already public service vehicles have transferred the cost of cutting down on the number of passengers to consumers. Passengers are now paying double the fare (basically paying for the empty spaces).

The government is asking PSV owners to be “considerate” of the situation which is hypocrisy. How can they be considerate when the government has not reduced the price of fuel? Let the government also reduce the price of fuel by 40 percent for the fare to come down.

Closing morgues and asking families to bury their loved ones within 24 hours is hitting hard on many families. Again, how do you burn morgues? Like, “Hey, no more dying here!” It is not logical.

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