This archive report was first published on 16 June 2020.
Kenya's Economy to Rebound as COTU Boss Francis Atwoli Urges Reopening of Key Sectors ¶
As of June 15, Kenya had reported 3,727 cases of COVID-19, with 1,286 recoveries and 104 deaths.
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary-general Francis Atwoli has urged the government to expedite the reopening of businesses that were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the need to revive the economy.
Atwoli noted that reopening of the hospitality, aviation, and manufacturing sectors will help save many livelihoods from destitution.
He also emphasized the importance of resuming local flights, saying it will pump life back into the tourism sector, which was starved of revenue when local and international flights were suspended.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 6 directed the Ministry of Transport and aviation players to hasten the development of guidelines that will set the stage for resumption of air travel.
Atwoli further suggested that hotels and restaurants should be allowed to operate up to 7pm to enable them to recover from the economic shock they have encountered and also enable people to easily access meals before 9pm, which marks the start of curfew.
Existing containment measures provided by the Ministry of Health allowed restaurants to operate up to 5pm, with all staff required to be tested for COVID-19 and the sitting arrangement to reflect proper social distancing.
Uhuru, however, extended the cessation of movement into and out of expanded Nairobi Metropolitan Area, Mombasa and Mandera counties and ban on international flights for another 30 days.
