Lamu Muslim clerics will continue with their daily meetings in mosques notwithstanding coronavirus in the country.
They will also not stop shaking hands. To them, shaking hands is not a concern as everyone washes hands and feet before presenting their prayers to Allah.
The clerics accused the government of deliberately inviting the coronavirus into the country by not acting progressively when the first outbreak was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the beginning of December 2019.
The government should have imposed early travel bans, especially air travel, from China, South Korea and Italy, Markaz Habib Swaleh mosque senior imam Said Khitamy said on Monday.
“Instead the government continued to allow flights from China. How do we even describe that if not a deliberate move to ship this dreadful into the country? Now they want us not to shake hands or worship. That will not happen,” Khitamy said.
According to him, there is no risk in shaking hands with fellow worshippers as everyone will have washed their hands.
The clerics said they were not shocked by last Friday's announcement of the first case of coronavirus in the country "considering the careless and casual manner" in which the government treated the news of the outbreak in China.
They called on the government to put up effective measures to counter the outbreak but banning handshakes was not part of the solution.
“The focus should now be on stopping the virus from spreading,” he said.
Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics chairperson Mohamed Abdulkadir said the many weird happenings in the country such as the locust invasion and the coronavirus outbreak are God's punishment for man's man sins.
“Let’s pray. Muslims and Christians, let’s all ask God to show us mercy. It’s obvious that the world is filled with filth. The leadership could have angered God. We have all gone against Allah’s wishes and for that, we need His forgiveness,” Abdulkadir said.
On Sunday, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced two more new coronavirus cases. Kenya's first case was announced last Friday. It was about a Kenyan who had been to Cleveland, Ohio in the US.
President suspended learning and restricted travels to Kenya from countries with cases of the pandemic.
– mwaniki fm
