This archive report was first published on 21 May 2020.
As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, East Africa has witnessed a mix of unexpected winners and losers. In Kenya, the refurbished Kisumu Port has emerged as a surprise winner, with the first consignment of oil exports to Uganda in December 2020.
With cross-border travel restrictions and long truck queues at the Uganda-Kenya border, Kisumu Port and Lake Victoria are being touted as the region's saviors. However, torrential rains have unleashed flood havoc, displacing nearly two million people in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Somalia.
Lake Victoria's water level has risen to its highest in nearly 60 years, causing luxury homes and hotels to disappear underwater, and fishing towns to be reduced to history. However, this may be a short-lived tragedy, as the deadly water hyacinth, which has choked Lake Victoria for 35 years, may have been carried further away from the lake.
When the high waters recede, the region may face a new ecological hazard. The pandemic has also brought about unlikely gifts, including a decline in hospital admissions and deaths in some areas.
According to anecdotal evidence, hospital visits have crashed by as much as 75% in some places. Could it be due to transport restrictions, or people's fear of infections? In Uganda, there are indications that the lockdown may have led to a spike in women dying in childbirth.
However, beyond that, deaths seem to be down. One WhatsApp gem suggests that the coronavirus has stopped or slowed the two main causes of death in urban areas - sin and pleasure. Many illnesses originate from restaurants, clubs, and bars, which are now either closed or operating at reduced capacity.
People are no longer drink-driving, and without the opportunity, there are few ungodly people breaking the Seventh and Tenth Commandments. Life chances have dramatically improved where boda-boda (motorcycle taxis) have been banned or restricted to ferrying goods.
With restaurants closed and children in lockdown, there is no more junk food. In comes good old home cooking fresh from the garden, diligently curated by the matriarch. Some have claimed that the people who will have been saved by Covid-19 in Africa could easily be over five times the number killed by it.
