• Kibicho however assured the lawmakers that the government has all their contacts and they are under constant surveillance and that none of the 239 has exhibited any sign of infection from the deadly virus.
• The CS also announced the government may be forced to cancel all major public events planned in the country including Beyond Zero campaign being spearheaded by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta as a safety measure.
Image: CHARLEN MALWA
The government is yet to implement a court order to quarantine 239 Chinese at a Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) facility, MPs have been told.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho on Wednesday admitted that the government is yet to comply with the court’s directive five days after Justice James Makau issued the orders.
The Judge also directed that the passengers to remain under quarantine until they are duly certified to be free from COVID-19.
Kibicho however assured the lawmakers that the government has all their contacts and they are under constant surveillance and that none of the 239 has exhibited any sign of infection from the deadly virus.
“What I can confirm is that we have all the contacts of the 239 Chinese. We have not been able to mop them up to a KDF facility,” he told a joint sitting of Senate and National Assembly’s Health committees.
Last week the High Court directed the cabinet secretaries of Health, Transport and Foreign Affairs to trace all the passengers who boarded the China Southern flight.
Justice James Makau gave the orders on Friday following two cases filed in the court concerning the coronavirus.
The judge said the passengers will be confined and quarantined in a Kenya Defence Forces facility until they are duly certified to be free from the COVID-19.
The judge also suspended all the flights from China landing into the country as well as passengers arriving through the sea into the country from coronavirus-hit countries.
The Law Society of Kenya had filed the case on Thursday, seeking to suspend the decision by the state in allowing further non-essential flights from China to Kenya due to the coronavirus disease.
Also sought is an order compelling Health CS Sicily Kariuki to prepare and present to the court for scrutiny a public health emergency contingency plan to control, prevent and manage any outbreak or spread of the disease in Kenya.
Kibicho appeared alongside Transport CS James Macharia before the joint health committee that is probing government preparedness and emergency response.
As a precaution measure, the CS disclosed the government has directed pilots and captains to take data of all passengers who board to Nairobi, information that is provided to the government for monitoring.
“As you enter the Kenyan airspace, every captain must know where the passengers are originating from,” Macharia said.
The passengers, especially from coronavirus hotspots, are then subjected to screening and monitoring to ensure the country remains safe from the virus.
Macharia whose transport docket puts him in charge of airlines also came under fire for the decision to suspend a Kenya Airways employee who filmed the Chinese airline and shared on the social media.
The lawmakers lauded Kenya Airways employee as a whistleblower who saved the country from the deadly virus and that he should not be punished for his action.
“The young man is a whistleblower; I want to persuade you not to be vindictive of the young man,” said Nyamira senator Okong’o Omogeni.
The CS, however, differed with the MPs saying the employee breached the law by secretly filming a security installation.
“You cannot secretly film a security installation, the airline was not arriving in secret. There were many employees at the airport and the employee was not a whistleblower as being claimed,” Macharia said.
The CS also announced the government may be forced to cancel all major public events planned in the country including Beyond Zero campaign being spearheaded by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta as a safety measure.
“Whenever we feel a situation require a different intervention, we shall not shy away from taking a different decision,” Macharia said.
On the possibility of evacuating 91 Kenyan students stuck in the Wuhan city of China, Macharia said the decision is being given the highest consideration.
He said China is currently having a reduction in the number of new infections and that their stay there is in their best interest.
“The situation is really changing and has completely improved in China and got worse in other countries.”
Parents of the 91 students had petitioned Senate to help them have their children evacuated from the Wuhan city which is currently under lockdown.
Today the committee will meet Health Cabinet Secretary to respond to members’ concerns on the country’s preparedness to combat the pandemic.