• Led by Minority leader John Mbadi the MP said it was a careless move for those responsible to have cleared the airline on Kenyan soil amid the coronavirus infection.
• Mbadi it was laughable that the health ministry had cleared all the 239 passengers and asked them to self-quarantine without proper mechanisms to monitor.
Image: COURTESY
A section of MPs now wants all the Chinese airlines suspended from landing at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Led by Minority leader John Mbadi the MPs said it was a careless move for those responsible to have cleared a China Southern Airline plane on Kenyan soil despite the scare of the coronavirus outbreak.
Mbadi it was laughable that the Health ministry cleared all the 239 passengers and asked them to 'self-quarantine' without proper monitoring mechanisms.
"Mr. Speaker such a move exposes top carelessness within our public service. How can we allow a Chinese airline to land in the country while compromising the lives of Kenyans," Mbadi said.
He added, "How are they going to self-quarantine, who is going to monitor. Mr. Speaker let us not lie to ourselves, we have no capacity to deal with this deadly virus when it lands here".
Mbadi said if it has taken China such long to deal with the virus that has left 2,700 dead and 80,239 others admitted, it would wipe out the entire Kenyan population if it finds itself in the country.
"It is clear the public service is compromising the lives of Kenyans. The committee on Defense and Foreign Relations must task the Health ministry to provide answers on why the airline was cleared and allowed in the country," he said.
"We owe it to the people of Kenya to stop such carelessness."
His sentiments were echoed by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi who said as it is, the management of JKIA should come out and state whether the airport is safe.
Kesses MP Mishra Ranjan said it is ironic for the government to direct passengers to self-quarantine without any documentation.
"Mr Speaker who is declaring this self-quarantine, do we have any documentation on the same, do we have mechanisms to monitor whether the passengers will adhere to the same," Ranjan posed.
The legislator said it is a mystery why KQ grounded its planes to Wuhan but allows an airline from the same exit point land on Kenyan soil.
He said the government instead of being insincere to its citizens should have used the same plane to evacuate the Kenyan citizens quarantined in the epidemic district.
More planes are expected to land at JKIA starting Friday.
The legislators took issues with the move after Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo failed to give clear details as to why the airline was cleared.
"We are treating Kenyans in Wuhan in a more delicate and sensitive way than China flights arriving in Kenya," Omamo told the Defense and Foreign Relations Committee.
"Our focus are on the students locked down there...we have to deal with them in a more delicate and sensitive way given that they are in the epicentre. We have to give them special attention, monitor their well being constantly," she added.
The CS said the China Southern Airlines that arrived with the 239 passengers was dealt with according to WHO guidelines and the decision was made in the best interest of the country.
“The flight that touched down in the country yesterday, was subjected to WHO requirements before it was allowed in Kenya. All the passengers were asked to self-quarantine. It is quite difficult to respond to certain questions. Given some of the passengers were wearing face masks, I wouldn’t be able to tell if they were from India, China, Elgeyo-Marakwet or Kisumu," she said.
The minister said she lacked a proper understanding of the nature of the coronavirus, given it was not her area of expertise.