North Rift elders have vowed to defy regional governors' directive to stay home and avoid travelling due to their vulnerability to Covid-19.
The directive to the more than 60-year-olds was issued by Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago on behalf of his colleagues in the North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb)
Mandago said evidence since the emergence of the Covid-19 outbreak indicated that most of those affected are elders, hence the order to protect them.
But some elders, led by Eldoret farmer-cum-politician Jackson Kibor, said they would defy the governors because they own most of the properties in the towns in the region and had to monitor their investments.
According to Kibor, 87, the directive was unworkable. He said they should have been consulted before such a decision was made.
The elders told the media in Eldoret that they had multi-billion-shilling investments in urban centres and it was not possible for them to avoid travelling.
“We control almost half of the thriving economy in main towns of Eldoret, Kitale, Kapsabet, Lodwar and Kapenguria and it is not wise for the governors to just wake up one morning and order that we should not be seen,” Kibor said.
He said Covid-19 affected people of all ages in the world and the governors and Kenyans should ask for God’s intervention to stop the spread of the virus.
“In the meantime I will also pray hard for God’s mercy and I will also continue to visit Eldoret and other main towns to monitor how my business activities are performing.”
John Kilimo, 68, who runs a fleet of public service vehicles along the Eldoret-Chepkoilel route said they would not accept “to be intimidated by the governors in the name of controlling Covid-19”.
“The records we have so far indicate that everybody is vulnerable to coronavirus infections and it is wrong for the governors to target elders," Kilimo said.
Mandago had said the senior citizens will only be allowed to visit towns for medical reasons. He said the decision was not to discriminate against them but protect them.
Another elder, John Sang, asked the governors to withdraw the order.
Edited by R.Wamochie
