This archive report was first published on 22 April 2020.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has indicated that he is reluctant to order a total lockdown, despite his concerns about the spread of Covid-19. Speaking to reporters on April 22, 2020, the president said that people who have recently escaped quarantine by jumping over the walls of the Kenya Medical and Teaching College (KMTC) will be traced, arrested, and forced to complete the mandatory isolation period.
President Kenyatta also emphasized that his administration is dealing with the repatriation of Kenyans stuck in various countries, including the United Kingdom, South Sudan, Dubai, India, and China, despite the closure of airports. He announced that his administration would embark on targeted mass-testing of over 2,000 people a day in residential areas with high numbers of infections and those on the frontline, starting this weekend.
The president admitted that the economy had suffered a major blow, particularly in sectors like tourism, agriculture, education, and manufacturing. He announced a reduction in Value Added Tax from 16 per cent to 14 per cent to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
President Kenyatta expressed his fear that a lockdown would lead to a hunger crisis in the country, and he regretted that Kenyans lacked seriousness regarding Covid-19, which has turned out to be his administration's biggest test in the fight against the pandemic.
