Governors have persuaded President Uhuru Kenyatta against locking down the country to check the spread of Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in infections in the past week.
Through the Council of Governors, the county chiefs opposed any plans to shutdown the country again, saying such a move will be detrimental to the country’s economy.
“The way the economy is, we have not agreed on the curfew. I wish that curfew is not reintroduced,” CoG chairman Martin Wambora said.
“We should continue with life provided we protect ourselves and observe to the Covid-19 protocols by the Ministry of Health,” he added.
Wambora spoke at the CoG’s Delta House headquarters in Nairobi after chairing the full Council meeting on Monday.
He was flanked by governors Samuel Tunai (Narok), Cornel Rasanga (Siaya), Lee Kinyanjui (Nakuru), Ahmed Muktar, Kiraitu Murungi (Meru) and Stanley Kiptis (Baringo).
There have been fears the President could consider reintroducing stringent measures, including the curfew and the lockdown, following the sharp increase in the number of infections in the wake of a new omicron variant.
Last year, and the better of this year, the country was under lockdown, with hotels, restaurants, bars and other social places shut, leading to massive job losses.
There was also curfew and restricted access to some regions or counties that had reported many cases of the virus.
The President lifted the restrictions on October 20 after the cases went down.
However, the country has recorded growing cases of the new, high infectious Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
Tunai, the CoG Tourism Committee chairman, said shutting down the country will result in many job losses at the time they are hoping to recover from the previous lockdowns.
“We know that we have lost many jobs. Our youths and people have lost jobs when the economy was closed. For now, we will not support as CoG lockdown of the country,” he said.
The second-term governor said many business, especially those in the hospitality industry, are hoping to recover from the ravages of lockdown imposed last year and early this year to contain the virus.
“With this Christmas season, places like Maasai Mara Game Reserve and hotels in Mombasa are full. Many are now travelling with families there. In effect, many people are getting jobs.”
“We cannot support the economy to be closed again. By now, many Kenyans know Covid-19 is there and many Kenyans are following the protocols,” Tunai added.
Meanwhile, the CoG has unveiled Mary Mwiti as its new chief executive officer.
Mwiti replaces Jacqueline Mogeni, who was appointed a judge of the High Court.
Wambora also announced that CoG will hold its annual elections on January 27, 2022.
“This will be the last election under the current regime and will be responsible for ensuring a smooth transition of the leadership of the Council,” Wambora said.
The Council also took issues with the Commission on Revenue Allocation for lowering the recurrent expenditure ceiling for the counties from the current Sh62.36 billion to Sh61.96 billion.
“We also note that the county assemblies draft budget ceilings for the financial year 2022-23 have not provided for induction costs of the new leadership coming in after the 2022 general,” he said.
CoG also spoke about the contract from the Managed Equipment Service which saw assorted medical equipment installed in select county and national hospitals.
The contract comes to end in May next year with a review committee proposing extension of the term by three years. Wambora said CoG will seek an expert opinion before taking a position.
(edited by Amol Awuor)