AfricaPress-Tanzania: Kenyans have employed a new strategy in a bid to beat the new directives issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, March 26.
Reports indicate that Kenyans are sneaking out of the border in Kajiado County into Tanzania unmonitored in order to go for church services, clubbing and other entertainment joints.
This comes despite Uhuru initiating lockdown measures in five counties among them Kajiado, Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru. Reports indicate that the border area is unmonitored.
A section of the clergy in Tanzania stated that scores of Kenyans throng church services on Sundays and do not adhere to the stipulated guidelines.
“They don’t adhere to the stipulated guidelines such as wearing of masks, use of sanitisers hence they become super-spreaders of the virus,” one pastor noted.
Residents in Kajiado County also expressed concerns and urged the government to relax the restrictions by reopening the churches to curb the trend.
President Uhuru’s restrictions have elicited mixed reactions among Kenyans who have either criticised or lauded the government in its quest to curb the third wave of the virus.
From revising the curfew hours to ordering the closure of bars and churches, Uhuru urged Kenyans to adhere to the new directives in order to fight against the pandemic.
“That fully conscious that 70% of Kenya’s reported cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the counties of Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru, these counties are individually and collectively declared a disease-infected area,” Uhuru stated.
Further, the Tanzanian government has been on the spot over its resolve in disregarding the Covid-19 pandemic. The late Tanzanian President John Magufuli was known for downplaying the severity of the virus within the country.
Tanzania stopped sharing Covid-19 updates to the World Health Organisation as Magufuli jeered at the restrictions imposed by other countries in a bid to fight the virus.
Soon after, various delegates within the Tanzanian government died due to the virus among them Zanzibar’s first Vice President Seif Sharif Hamad.
This prompted Magufuli to change tune and in his final statement, he urged his people to adhere to the protocols and also wear masks.
