Poor of Kajiado still wait for state Covid-19 rescue – Weekly Citizen

The coronavirus pandemic facing Kenya is now overwhelming. The locust invasion has been replaced with coronavirus that has taken Kenyans just like in any other country in the world by storm. The government decided to put up measures to contain the virus, the first step was curfew implementation. This was followed by inter-country movement restriction and residents were cautioned against moving in and out the country, that is the Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Mandera and of course Kwale which joined the dangerous hard-hit counties later. The last measure taken was in Eastleigh in Nairobi and Old Town in Mombasa under lockdown. All of the above measures were taking place when the government had started identifying the most vulnerable in society. However, mapping was done without considering the best-sampled method; the sampled areas were narrowed to slums and street children by assuming that they are the most vulnerable in society.

Joseph Ole Lenku

The government has started allocation of funds and supply of basic commodities in various counties. However, Kajiado country residents are still waiting. Some Kenyans had, however, returned the money sent to their accounts saying that they are not beneficiaries, said a senior member in the Covid-19 committee fund. It is not understood why the government outlined only slums within Nairobi and street families as the main beneficiaries yet many counties also have slum dwellers. This fund was to benefit the right people but it will end up going to the wrong people due to poor mapping by the government. The funds will also be affected by other factors like corruption as many counties will not be able to distribute food to their residents that will have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the counties that have released food are Nakuru where Governor Lee Kinyanjui flagged off trucks carrying rice, sugar, wheat and maize flour to the vulnerable.

Nakuru governor Lee Kinyanjui

“The beneficiaries will be receiving the donations every two weeks,” Governor Kinyanjui said. The country assembly approved a Sh300 million budget aimed at offering incentives that would help residents against the economic effects of Covid-19. The poor of Mombasa also were lucky to get a governor with a big heart. Governor Hassan Joho told a meeting that they were going to map out the entire county and send food supplies and other aids to help in the fight of Covid-19 cases in the county. However, the government has refused to work with governors across the county in collaboration with the national administration structures to provide for vulnerable households. Raila Odinga has also not been of help to the poor people who count on him to push for their demands. The opposition leader termed the Covid-19 a world war III without bombs but that was all. Empty rhetoric as usual. Governor Anne Waiguru of Kirinyaga after a mapping gave to locals Sh5,000 each. Another master of the poor is the area MP of Westlands Tim Wanyonyi.

Governor Ann Mumbi Waiguru

The MP has been donating food to residents whose income is low, by targeting slums in Westlands. Residents of Kibarage slum however complain that the last time they saw him there was during the 2017 campaigns. Many counties have put in place a number of measures to cushion citizens against economic effects occasioned by the corona virus disease. However in Kajiado North constituency, things have never been easy. First of all, the area governor Ole Lenku has been described by locals as a weak leader. The governor has not paid attention to what the residents of Kajiado North have been benefiting from compared to other counties. “He thinks that all people living in Kajiado are rich due to a large number of cows,” said resident by name Santamu. “At this point when many counties have launched programmes to help the vulnerable during the Covid-19 crisis, little has been done except see people in Nairobi on television displaying phones saying that they have received money from the national government,” one Rosalia lamented.

Tim Wanyonyi

Kajiado county government had sent government officials in various parts of the county to map out those communities affected by Covid-19 and to move door-to door to identify those to be given food and cash donation. The teams identified by chiefs worked for a period of one week moving in all households and writing down the names and ID numbers of all the households, telling them they would start receiving donations from the government twice a week and at least more than Sh5,000. Up to now, locals at still waiting for the donations. “I think our names are to be used for rigging elections and that is why our names and ID numbers were taken. Let us wait because it is during an election when politicians will come to seduce us with food but not this time of Covid-19,” said Nyangese Wambui. The county of Kajiado has a number of slums like Mathare in Ngong, and Gichagi in Embulbul. The residents have been complaining that they should be considered like people in Kibera since they can not afford the high rents and have to resort to sharing rooms leading to overcrowding, have no running water or electricity, have leaking roofs and pit latrines are inadequate or nonexistent.

Hassan Joho

The locals have been complaining that food has been distributed but only to landlords in the name of age because the government’s aim was to identify elderly people and most of the landlords fall in that age group. The standard explanation is that there is something wrong with our politics or that we do not have enough resources. The Kenya election systems have failed to produce the leadership that is required to bring transformation as there is lack of seriousness in leadership, corruption and lack of vision. For the politicians and their supporters, being a leader means enriching oneself with public resources. This is not new and it was the seed planted in the colonial and postcolonial times. The seed has been propagated in Kenya. We are thieves minus the opportunities and we have become a county of thieves from exams to medicine. This is what is going to happen to funds allocated to fighting Covid19 in counties. Remember only Sh300 million from the budget was taken from Kajiado North towards the Covid-19 emergency fund, and the county has not allocated any funds towards Covid-19 To make it worse, it was the first county to report a positive case of the bug. Yet when it comes to totally useless things like the so-called Building Bridges Initiative, the government readily finds funds to burn in endless rallies that benefit no one except the leaders who are paid hefty allowances. It is ironical and even heartless that there is now talk of reviving the stalled BBI rallies even as Kenyans starve in their homes.