- They have accused law enforcers of turning arrests into a cash cow where they continue to fleece locals of their hard-earned money.
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They said most people in Lamu are poor hence cannot afford to sustain a daily purchase of new face masks.
The Lamu Council of Elders has appealed to the police in the region to issue masks to all those arrested for not wearing one instead of throwing them into police cells.
The council felt if the objective is to fight Covid-19, the police should strive to ensure all members of the public are masked up instead of focusing on arresting and prosecuting them.
Council chairperson Salim Kambaa said police had turned the arrests into a cash cow where they continue to fleece locals of their hard-earned money instead of focusing on taming the pandemic.
He noted that most people in Lamu are poor and hence cannot afford to sustain a daily purchase of new face masks.
Kambaa said police should understand that arresting such people and jailing them or fining them doesn’t help but instead worsens the situation.
“They arrest people without wondering why they have no face masks in the first place. Many of these people cannot afford Sh20 to purchase a new face mask daily,” Kambaa said.
The council deputy chairperson Mohamed Mbwana said most cells in Lamu are overcrowded hence create a perfect ground for infections and the spread of Coronavirus.
Mbwana observed that there was no social dancing inside the cells and neither are inmates allowed to wear masks once inside.
The elders want the police to assume a non-violent approach of helping the citizens to stay safe instead of harassing, fleecing and jailing them for simple things.