•Lawmakers pass motion stopping the government from levying fees on persons quarantined over Covid-19.
•ODM MPs say they will not allow the government to force people to pay for their upkeep during quarantine.
Image: FILE
Opposition MPs on Wednesday cautioned state authorities against taking advantage of the handshake to mete brutality on Kenyans while enforcing Covid-19 rules.
They also raised concerns the government had not taken the fight against the virus with the seriousness it deserves.
The MPs passed a motion stopping the government from levying fees on persons quarantined over Covid-19.
The government charges quarantined persons Sh2,000 per day while those who choose to stay in hotels meet their own costs.
The government on Wednesday said it will cater for the costs of quarantining patients in state facilities.
"The cost of targeted testing and quarantine in government facilities shall be met by the government," Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir moved the motion asking that the government consider waiving charges payable by persons under mandatory quarantine.
“This should exclude those isolated due to violation of social distancing and curfew requirements,” the lawmaker said.
Minority Leader John Mbadi said it was disheartening that budget shows that the government had taken a business-as-usual approach in dealing with the crisis.
He cited the case of the Treasury allocating Sh2.6 billion of the Sh2.8 trillion budget as the only direct intervention on Covid-19.
The Minority side condemned the government for taking Kenyans for granted, saying the state should provide at least Sh20 billion for cash transfers.
“For how long will we allow this government to continue behaving normally yet they tell us we are behaving abnormally?” Mbadi asked.
He called for more interventions and relief to persons not only affected by the pandemic but also by floods.
The Suba South MP said it was time the government woke up, "just in case it has been sleeping because of the handshake."
The ODM chairman said the handshake "did not mean that state officers do things the way they want."
He cited the state’s non-responsiveness to flood victims in Budalang'i, Nyando, Karachuonyo and Nyatike whom he said “are on their own.”
Minority Whip Junet Mohammed said security officers were acting as if the Constitution had been suspended.
“This government has not done anything tangible other than figures. This is a government that cannot feed its people, give free masks and sanitiser. What else can they do?” Junet asked.
He said they will not allow this government to force people to pay for their upkeep after they are quarantined after contact tracing.
“The government must pay for the upkeep of the people they have quarantined. If somebody has been traced and quarantined, the government must pay the bill,” Junet said.
Junet moved the Wednesday plenary sittings with the call that the Health ministry accounts for every coin of the Sh1 billion World Bank cash.
“They must account for it penny by penny. This money must be accounted for coin by coin. It is absurd that people are shamelessly spending Sh4 million on tea yet people are dying of coronavirus,” the Suna East MP said.
“It is a shame. We must condemn that act. If it were in developed democracies, this government should have resigned. If you cannot defend people from floods, you don’t deserve to be called a government."
The MPs asked the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and Interior CS Fred Matiang’i to ensure police observe the law.
Majority Leader Aden Duale said it was shameful the two had let President Uhuru Kenyatta apologise on behalf of the police.
“We cannot have a situation where the number of people killed by police is higher than people killed by Covid-19. Let the IG tell his rogue officers to stop what they are doing.”
Edited by Henry Makori