This archive report was first published on 9 May 2020.
On Wednesday night, a middle-aged woman and her two children fled from Eastleigh in Nairobi, evading the COVID-19 lockdown. They were eventually caught in Namanga, where they were placed under forced quarantine.
According to Nyumba Kumi elders, the woman, Amdi Surwa, was seen in Namanga after she had fled from Eastleigh. The elders alerted the police, who arrested her on Friday.
Surwa claimed that her cousin had hired a taxi for her and her children, and made a phone call to the police manning the Isinya roadblock, allowing them to pass through without any hindrances.
However, Nyumba Kumi elder Benjamin Saisi expressed concern that the laxity at the Isinya roadblock had allowed the woman and her children to escape the lockdown. He urged the government to tighten security and surveillance at the roadblocks.
Surwa and her children were placed under forced quarantine, and the police are tracing the driver of the taxi who ferried them. Kajiado Central Sub-county commander Daudi Loronyokwe warned those fleeing areas under lockdown that they would be arrested and placed under mandatory quarantine for fourteen days.
On Wednesday, the government placed Eastleigh and Mombasa old Town on lockdown for 15 days in a bid to curb the rising numbers of COVID-19 positive cases in the areas. Health Cabinet Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman expressed concern over a large number of residents who escaped on Wednesday night to their relatives in South B and South C estates.
Kenya has so far recorded 621 COVID-19 positive cases with 29 people succumbing to the disease.
