March 15 2020 marked a new era in my country Kenya. Students had an early holiday, employers held emergency meetings, businesses closed down, restaurants and entertainment centres were hit worst with the lockdown directive. The majority were laid off and those who still held their positions had to take “voluntary” mandatory pay cuts, except of course the politicians, who passed a bill that ensured their salaries and allowances remained untouched. The spotlight shone on the health care providers, they were the unsung heroes, the soldiers in the battle against the invisible enemy. A new list of essential service providers emerged; my boyfriend was excited he made the list… I roll my eyes every time he brings it up. The rest of us had one job, stay indoors, sanitise, keep safe and follow the daily briefing the ministry of health religiously made before 4.00 p.m. EAT.
For a while we focused on the steady rise in the numbers, we ate and breathed Covid-19 numbers, the economic status was not given much thought. A couple of weeks down the line, the cases started, the number of gender-based violence cases increased, the cry for relaxation of lockdown measures became louder as the number of hungry people increased. A stampede in one of the slums during a scramble for relief food led to the death of two women, barely a month after the stringent measures. The Rotarians sent out flowers for hope to health workers and patients alike, the government sent flowers to the UK health care practitioners. Kenyans now ate and breathed the conspiracy theories spun by the notorious KOT (Kenyans on Twitter), meme lords were the new entertainment and WIFI companies recorded a rise as new clients requested unlimited internet access.
Kite Oxford-Nairobi on the ground for the #Covid19-Response:
Three months down the line, the narrative has barely changed. The nationwide night curfew is still in place for 7 hours, no longer 10 hours as before, however, it now runs for 30 days instead of the 21 days we had grown accustomed to. The notorious KOT have already noted the government’s dubious methods of “kutufunga macho” loosely translates into closing our eyes, which is blind sighting us. Apparently, the math adds up, we are still going to be on lockdown for a cool 210 hours there was no relief offered at all. The cessation of interstate movement in and out of two cities is still in place for an extra month, but the school heads and restless students can see a light at the end of the tunnel after a gradual reopening of schools is set to commence on 1st September.
This has elicited mixed reactions; you will have to read the next post to get the continuation…
©Audi Kawira
The writer is a University student who is passionate in pointing out the specks in our own eyes, dedicated to reminding the broken that Humanity is still Alive, Browbeaten but Alive in this century despite the chaos