• Group's rapid response team visited at least 50 institutions at the Coast to assess preparedness for Covid-19.
• CSOs want miraa, muguka joints closed as sodas and water are shared during communal chewing.
Civil Society Organizations at the Coast want to be included in the list of essential service providers to allow them to monitor the national night curfew.
The CSOs on Sunday said they had been monitoring the implementation of the directives and guidelines issued by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
However, Coast Civil Society Organizations Reference Group chairman Zedekiah Adika said they were unable to monitor how the 7 pm-5 am curfew was being implemented with reports of human rights violations by the police.
“There is a need to monitor the curfew and the entire interventions that the government has put in place to ensure that we curb coronavirus. In that regard, we call for accreditation of organisations that are reputable to be allowed to monitor this exercise,” Adika said.
He spoke outside the Muslim for Human Rights legal aid clinic. Adika said monitoring should be acknowledged as an essential service.
The government’s list of essential service providers includes medical professionals and health workers, national security, administration and co-ordination officers, county public health and sanitation officers, licensed pharmacies and drug stores, Kenya Power Company, licensed broadcasters and media houses.
Civil society organisations are not on the list.
Adika, however, raised the red flag over some of the measures put in place to fight the virus.
He said there was an acute shortage of trained staff to handle the virus. “If this thing were to explode exponentially like it is happening in other countries, the staff may be overwhelmed.”
The reference group’s rapid response team visited at least 50 institutions at the Coast to assess preparedness for Covid-19.
The group noted the personal protective equipment (PPE) available for doctors - the frontline soldiers in the war - were inadequate.
“For that reason, we call upon the government through the Ministry of Health to provide these PPEs to Mombasa. The process of procuring these must be fast-tracked. It is not business as usual.”
Adika said at the Nyali beach, some salons and barbershops were still operational despite being ordered closed.
Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma said miraa and muguka dens across the county were still operating with little regard for hygiene and social distancing.
“These dens must be closed. People who chew miraa and muguka should be advised to stop gathering and stay indoors,” Auma said.
He said during communal chewing of the stimulant, sodas, water and other items are shared, hence increasing the risk of infection.
Edited by R.Wamochie