Security agencies in Migori County have vowed to enforce to letter the government’s dawn – to – dusk curfew order even as stiff resistance were registered in most towns and markets in the region over the weekend.
On Friday through to weekend, security officers in full riot gear were to literally eject people from their places of work and streets in towns with a view to enforcing one among a raft of the government’s measures to help combat the spread of Coronavirus.
County Police Commander Mr. Maina Machungu warned that all the people must adhere to the directives put in place by the government to check on the disease, “else we all perish”.
“The orders are clear to everyone in this county and it is the responsibility of the police to ensure that the orders are followed to the letter. In short we are telling people to go back to their houses as per the stipulated curfew time,” said the police boss.
However, it degenerated into a cat-and-mouse game between the police and members of the public on Saturday and Sunday as the people proved adamant to leave the streets of towns and markets by the start of the curfew time.
Although no ugly incident has been recorded in the area since Friday, Migori, Kehancha, Isebania and Rongo towns have turned out to be the epicenter of people going against the curfew rule.
“Yes we know the virus is dangerous to our life but on the other hand the same people must feed themselves to remain alive. If we are going to lock ourselves in the houses how are we going to get all the necessary basic needs without working,” paused Mr. Fredrick Okello, a boda boda operator in Migori town.
He claimed that most of the riders do good business after 5pm running late into the night and sending them back home by 7pm will kill them and their families even before the virus send them to their death.
But it was not only the curfew that was being violated in the region. A spot-check by KNA also revealed that the directive on social distancing was not being followed to the letter.
The matatu operators were found to be the worst categories of Kenyans breaking this noble measure against the spread of the disease by continuing to overload their vehicles despite the directive to carry only 8 passengers at one time.
The other group breaking this rule was the boda boda operators who continued to ferry more than one passenger at ago.
“I have also noticed that the motorcyclists are also congregating in groups and ignoring the 1-metre distance rule in places they wait for passengers,” said County Commissioner Joseph Rotich.
However, Mr. Rotich commended religious leaders in the region for allowing their followers to pray at home.
Church leaders and Imams communicated their normal services through live social platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.
Pastor Festus Nyagaya of Voice Of Hope Uriri SDA Church reached out to his flock by streaming his Sabbath sermon live on Facebook, turning homes into churches.
By George Agimba
Friday, November 15, 2024
Information For Development
