Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has revealed why Ex-Health CS Mutahi Kagwe was solely tasked with communicating Covid-19 information to the public.
Speaking during the East Africa Regional Global Health Summit in Mombasa on Wednesday, Uhuru, communication was key in the response and fight against the virus.
He said having Kagwe as the single source of information on the pandemic containment measures was aimed at avoiding misunderstanding and misinformation.
“Poor communication results in confusion and as we all know communication during such a season as Covid was very important, keeping people informed and giving hope as they wondered what would happen next,” Uhuru said.
He said as the government it was agreed that NERC would be solely responsible for all forms of communication around the pandemic.
“To this end I uthorised that only the Cabinet Secretary for Health would speak on behalf of the government on matters related to Covid to avoid any form of misunderstanding or misinformation and he became the single source of truth so to say about measures on the disease.”
He said the only other communication that was permitted was from the president himself, who would speak from time to time when landmark decisions needed to be made especially those related to the lockdown and economic stimulus…
“I did endeavour, a good number of times, that during those occasions, I was also flanked by leaders of the opposition to further reassure Kenyans that this was truly a national crisis: Uhuru Kenyatta on Covid pandemic.”
He recalled the year 2020 when the pandemic wreaked havoc across the world and brought down even the strongest healthcare systems.
He described it as a time when the world came to a standstill, taking everybody by surprise and forcing nations to begin asking when the pandemic will arrive at their doorsteps.
Uhuru said in consultation with his Cabinet, he found it prudent way before the disease was found within the Kenyan borders to set up the National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus chaired by then Health CS Mutahi Kagwe.
The mandate of the committee was to help steer the country and to navigate the uncertainty season with an emphasis on coordinating response capacity, medical supplies, and medical personnel to enable the country to respond quickly and effectively to any suspected cases
It was also tasked with enhancing surveillance at all points of entry and preparation of national and county isolation facilities
He convened a meeting with the Council of Governors and began coordinating the supply of testing kits that would be critical, looking out for medical supplies and masks and other protective gear that were available within the republic.
“All these we did knowing that sooner or later we would be confronted by the coronavirus. All these measures we put in place in February 2020 and as fate would have it, on March 13, 2020, we got our first Covid-19 case, a 27-year-old woman who had travelled from London,” Uhuru said.
This marked the beginning of a long year not only in the health sector but throughout the whole sectors.
This necessitated the country to place a ban on all public gatherings including in churches to prevent the virus from spreading.
“This was a bitter pill for Kenyans to swallow but it was a necessary measure to help curb the virus and protect the people of Kenya,” Uhuru said.