- “This order shall apply during the hours of darkness between eight o’clock in the evening and four o’clock in the morning with effect from March 29, 2021 and shall remain in effect for a period of sixty days thereof,” he said.
Image: VICTOR IMBOTO
The night curfew across the country will continue until May 29, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i has said.
In a revised Gazette Noticed dated April 12, Matiang'i said the curfew will start from 8pm and end at 4am.
“This order shall apply during the hours of darkness between eight o’clock in the evening and four o’clock in the morning with effect from March 29, 2021 and shall remain in effect for a period of sixty days thereof,” he said.
However, the curfew will start at 10pm and end at 4am in counties outside the lockdown zone of Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Kajiado and Machakos.
The five counties were put under lockdown on March 29 when President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered a cessation of movement in and out of the zone.
He declared the areas a Covid-19 disease-infected zone.
Matiang'i's order says there shall be no public gatherings, processions or movement either alone or as a group during the period of the curfew except as shall be permitted, in writing, by a police officer in charge of the police in a county or a police officer in charge of the police in a division/sub-county.
The CS had earlier on indicated the curfew orders would run for 30 days.
The notice included advocates of the High Court among essential service providers. The lawyers had gone to court to seek the orders to be included in the list of those exempted from the movement restrictions.
President Kenyatta announced the partial lockdown and instituted new curfew measures to start from 8pm to 4am in a bid to stem the third wave of Covid-19 infections.
He ordered the closure of bars and places of worship in the disease-infested zone.
“This tells us that our rate of infection has gone up 10 times between January and March 2021. Indeed, it is a clear indication of a new trend, that now Kenya is squarely in the grip of a third wave of the pandemic,” he said.
The peak, President Kenyatta said, is likely to flatten by mid-May.
Meetings or events including social gatherings are limited to 15, funerals, cremations and other interment ceremonies must be conducted within 72 hours of confirmation of death and are limited to 50 mourners.
Those travelling to Kenya must have a negative Covid-19 certificate, acquired no more than 96 hours prior to arrival. The certificate must have been validated under the Trusted Travel platform for those travelling by air.
Essential service providers who will be allowed to pass the police roadblocks and also move past the curfew hours include medics, advocates and national security officers.
Others are licensed pharmaceutical companies, licensed media houses and broadcasters, Kenya Railways Corporation staff, Kenya Ports Authority staff and Kenya Pipeline Corporation staff.
Water service providers, Kenya Revenue Authority staff, Kenya Airport Authority staff, Kenya Airways staff, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority staff, licensed supermarkets and mini-markets.
Fire brigade and emergency response services, licensed security firms, postal courier services and retailers of petroleum and oil products are also included.
Those in the agricultural and manufacturing sector, including those in food and farm produce processors and distributors are also in the list.
Edited by P.O