Kenyans aren’t happy, and face masks won’t hide the pain

A lot of Covid-19-related events took place this week, as the government extended the nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew.

However, the most concerning was the lamentation by the Ministry of Health at the rising reports of stigma against those cleared of the coronavirus, and quarantine boredom.

In a passionate plea meant to ensure the smooth reintegration into society after testing negative of Covid-19, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi told affected families to soften their hearts and avoid stigmatising their loved ones, who had experienced healing at the hands of our hardworking medics, who are still being paid by a synchronised clapping of hands every Wednesday at noon.

Kenyans can finally get to see the human face of their government — a welcome departure from the same government that has previously showed no mercy while dealing with those not observing the curfew law, sending morbid fear and cold chills down the spines of many, even those who previously swore that they only fear God … and hot porridge.

When the government started this Covid-19 enforcement by whipping those running back home in time for the containment, there was a collective unanimity that physical force was not a sound strategy to win the hearts and minds of Kenyans, but the government took time to take a step back and listen to the experts.

Experience has proven to be the best teacher once again, and not for the last time.

From the beginning, concerns had been raised about the government’s strategy to fight coronavirus, with most affected Kenyans questioning the continued deployment of fear as a tool to fight this medical monster, and the economic baggage that it flew here with.

We saw scenes straight from a bad movie, when the police arrested anything that moved past 7pm, threw it in non-Covid-19-compliant vehicles, and dumped it at the nearest isolation centre, for mosquitoes to take over the harassment.

As if that madness wasn’t enough, together with county medical teams, the police stormed homes dead in the night, carried bodies like lepers, and threw them into shallow graves.

Even village dogs scavenging dry bones in decommissioned heaps always get to be prayed for first before being dumped in body bags.

It is reassuring to note that the minister for Health has since sent a humane letter to the Senate apologising for the disrespect government officials showed during the burial of the Siaya case.

For a government that has found it difficult apologising for the broken promises they have given to Kenyans before, we hope Mutahi Kagwe’s apology came from the bottom of his heart, and the tears not borrowed from relaxing crocodiles.

Kenyans had high hopes when the new minister for Health was presented to the public.

We were told of his record during the previous government, and we were convinced that he was the new broom Kenyans badly needed at the ministry most famous for buying mobile clinics that have gathered more rust than an abandoned oil rig.

There is a need for his ministry to do more to restore the public trust this government keeps losing, because without the government being in sync with the people, this Covid-19 fight will not be won.

For instance, when other countries are using scientific evidence to inform their responses and policy decisions, the Kenyan government is happy with forming task forces to raise money from corporates, money that has since been used to buy printers at the price of a uranium enrichment plant, brew tea using holy water, and deep-fry snacks in a 24-carat gold pan.

These are tough times, and many people are struggling to put food on their dinner tables due to loss of jobs occasioned by the pandemic.

Poor Kenyans are literally boiling stones to feed their children, and we still have government officials having the courage to drink tea with our stimulus cash.

Kenyans have lost count on the number of times this government has been presented with a golden chance to get its act together and do things that would make us forgive its past mistakes, but it still gives us a reason not to.

It can’t be that Kenyans are being told to stay at home and wait for the coast to be clear, when government officials keep going to the office to drink tea and eat snacks with money meant to put hand sanitisers on people’s hands and masks on their faces.

This is the time for the minister for Health to assure Kenyans that he won’t be party to the eating of public money meant for coronavirus relief, because Kenyans aren’t happy, and even the face masks won’t hide their feelings.