As the government remains tough on reopening bars and other entertainment joints in the fight against Covid-19, pub owners in Malaba, Busia, have devised a new way of making money and keeping their businesses going.
The liquor sellers at the border town have resorted to hawking beer as businesses grapple to overcome the effects of the coronavirus.
It is now common to see youths hired by bar owners vending alcohol in the town and its environs. President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday announced that bars will remain closed for 30 more days.
During daily briefing on the coronavirus on Sunday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe made a joke that some Kenyans were misinterpreting the President’s directive and now thought it was time to “order for a special Kagwe”.
Bar owners who had hoped that Uhuru would relax coronavirus health guidelines and allow merrymakers to return to pubs were taken aback by the President’s decision to extend the ban on bar operations.
The government ordered all bars shut until further notice on March 22.
Bar owners said they had been forced to devise new methods of selling to meet their obligations like paying rent and other utilities.
“When we were ordered to close, sales dropped drastically," one bar owner said.
"Businesses are unable to pay rent because they can no longer meet monthly target sales. I have been advocating for takeaway services since bars were ordered to close. When need arises I make door-to-door deliveries.”
Those who want to drink prefer sipping their favourite brands from home and bar operators to serve them there. They told the Star he delivers the beer himself or sends his former waitresses to make the deliveries.
David Moseti said bar operators had been compelled to become creative to overcome the challenges posed by the Covid-19 to earn a living.
“We have been hit hard,” he told the Star.
“I have sent all employees home because of low income. The little I earn from the beer sales I make is enough for my family.”
Three of his employees sell beer along the Malaba-Bungoma highway to truckers who have camped in the town due to the snarl-up caused by screening and testing at the border town.
Moseti intends to hire more youths to help vend his beer products in Malaba town now that hundreds of truck drivers with no Covid-19 certificates are in the town.
The truckers without the certificates were barred from clearing at the Malaba One Stop Border Post to enter Uganda unless they possess documents showing they had been tested for the virus and results indicated they were coronavirus negative.
“We are considering restocking, but that will only be possible based on the returns from my boys [I have hired to sell],” he said.
Uhuru on Saturday was categorical that all entertainment joints will remain shut as briefs from the National Security Council showed there were still gaps that Kenyans needed to close to succeed in the fight against Covid-19.
On June 2, Busia county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri announced that all hawkers in Busia may be subjected to mandatory Covid-19 testing to ensure traders constantly interacting with truck drivers were free from coronavirus.
“We shall embark on testing hawkers, roadside sellers and other people who interact with truck drivers to ascertain the magnitude of the pandemic in the county,” Kanyiri said at a press briefing.
Kanyiri said all government agencies mandated to enforce Health Ministry guidelines on Covid-19 in the county would do their work and those flouting the rules would be dealt with according to the law.
County medical services director Janerose Ambuchi said plans were underway to have all hawkers tested, although she did not specify when the testing would begin.
“We have that plan but its implementation has not begun,” she told the Star while cautioning hawkers to strictly follow guidelines issued by the Health ministry.
Edited by Henry Makori