Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho on Saturday informed President Uhuru of his worry about the increasing cases in Mombasa, pushing his total lockdown campaign to State House.
Joho, irked by the irresponsible behaviour of some Mombasa residents, has been advocating for a total lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“In my county, the graph is going upwards. They (residents) may need a decision to add more stringent restrictions. But the sufferer of these restrictions will be wananchi,” Joho said.
He was among three Coast governors who had gone to brief President Kenyatta on the state of their respective counties regarding Covid-19.
Others present were Kilifi’s Amason Kingi and Kwale’s Salim Mvurya.
Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties are the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic after Nairobi.
Joho said the fight against the pandemic will be won only if Kenyans are self-disciplined.
“We are in a trial brought by God. There is so much that the government can do. Ninety per cent of the responsibility lies with wananchi,” Joho said.
Mombasa has recorded about 70 cases of Covid-19, the most after Nairobi county which has over 200.
In his address to the nation while giving an update of the country’s Covid-19 situation on Saturday, Uhuru said his government would not wish to overburden Kenyans with more stringent restrictions.
However, he noted that he will not hesitate to do so if the situation calls for it as advised by experts.
“The government would like to reduce all restrictions, including lifting the curfew, but this will only be done once we are satisfied that Kenyans are disciplined enough to follow the protocols,” Uhuru said.
Mvurya said Kenya is in war with the coronavirus, which will not be defeated by bullets, guns and tankers.
“We will win only if we have discipline,” he said, urging Kenyans to exercise a high level of self-discipline.
Kingi, whose Kilifi county has recorded about 20 cases of coronavirus, said the war on coronavirus has no viewers or bystanders.
“We must all be soldiers if we are to win this war,” he said.
The three governors have initiated food distribution programmes to vulnerable households in anticipation of an eventual lockdown.
Mombasa has at least 227,000 vulnerable families whom the county government says have all been mapped out and identified.
Kilifi has over 220,000 facing starvation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mvurya on Saturday said his county is also mapping out the vulnerable families which will receive food aid.
Joho urged Kenyans to be more self-disciplined as Kingi warned against waiting for law enforcers to do the right thing.
“We can avoid going to hospital. We can avoid being put on ventilators. We can avoid suffering a total lockdown. But only if we are self-disciplined,” Joho said.
The three governors called for behavioural change in the residents of their respective counties.
Edited by R.Wamochie
