Vihiga County government has issued a stern warning to residents contravening Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 containment measures currently in place.
Governor Dr. Wilber Ottichilo issued the warning on Tuesday at Vihiga County Referral Hospital when he officially received a consignment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and foodstuffs donated by Rural Outreach Africa (ROA), a non-profit making organization.
The Rural Outreach Africa Project Coordinator Mrs Mary Karanu represented the organization at the handing over ceremony.
The organization donated PPEs worth Sh2 million which included surgical coats and the N95 face masks and ordinary surgical masks as well as an assortment of foodstuffs that would be distributed to vulnerable families to cushion them against resultant adverse economic effects caused by Covid-19.
While appreciating Rural Outreach Africa, the County boss noted the PPEs would greatly reinforce his government’s efforts in the fight against the contagious virus. “The PPE will be distributed among the health staff and other frontline workers,” said Ottichilo.
Describing the third wave of the Covid-19 virus as a great threat to humanity across the globe, the Governor appealed to members of the public to adhere to the health protocols.
“Whereas the health professionals consistently remind us of the importance to don face masks, maintain social distances in public spaces, regularly wash hands using prescribed detergents and running water and avoid unnecessary travels, it saddens to see majority of Kenyans blatantly ignoring such important measures,” remarked Ottichilo.
The Governor directed security officers, including police and county law enforcement officers to arrest locals, regardless of their positions in society, who disobey the containment measures directive.
“It has a reached a point where as a responsible government we are not going to shy away from applying necessary force if we have to curb community transmission of the fast spreading Covid-19 virus,” the Governor stated.
He encouraged the locals to embrace the protocols in order to enable the government fight the virus that continues to claim lives across the globe.
Mrs Karanu said the organization would continue partnering with Vihiga County. “Our main objective is to uplift living standards of the locals,” she said.
She further revealed the organization in conjunction with WeltHunger Hilfe (WHH), a German based NGO, would soon roll out and fully implement in the County an ambitious initiative dubbed, “Strengthening Rural Governance for the Right to Adequate Food.”
Established in 1950, ROA engages and works with rural communities in Africa to identify and address the conditions that are undermining their development.
By Maurice Aluda
