Government services grind to near halt as Covid-19 takes toll

On the second floor of Harambee House, a seldom-used office is now President Uhuru Kenyatta’s operational base in the country’s battle against an insidious new virus.

A month after mass Covid-19 testing at State House found that four people had contracted the virus, the President has scaled down direct meetings with outsiders.

No visitors are allowed to State House and those inside are not allowed to leave either, with most of the staff operating from home.

State House, besides being the official residence of the Head of State, also houses many workers and security guards.

In order to protect the Head of State, those who work closely with him are getting “continuous testing” and the President has resorted to virtual meetings.

AFFECTED INSTITUTIONS

Besides State House, other government institutions that have been affected are the Public Service Commission and key security installations at the Department of Defence.

Others are hospitals, state agencies, ministries and key arms of government, including the Judiciary and Parliament.

State House Wednesday said the President and the First Family are safe and free from Covid-19 and that “extra access protocols for State House staff residing outside the compound and visitors have been rolled out”.

NEW MEASURES

Insiders say that, since April, most of the staff were asked to start working from home and after four officers contracted the virus, new measures were taken.

“The infected officers were admitted at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital in Kiambu County for treatment,” said Kanze Dena-Mararo Wednesday.

More than 10,791 people have been infected with more than 200 dead. The virus has stretched the capacity of the health sector with doctors falling victim.

“State House would like to inform Kenyans that every person is at risk of contracting Covid-19. No one is immune to the disease,” said State House Wednesday.

UNCERTAINTY IN PUBLIC SERVICE

The infections rate, and the resultant quarantine havoc it is causing, is leaving little room for service delivery, raising fear and uncertainty in the public service.

Latest to be affected are dozens of employees in state agencies, including the National Treasury, with two ministries sending out memo to their staff announcing the scaling down of operations to minimise further spread of Covid-19.

At the National Treasury, Principal Administrative Secretary Amos Njoroge has written a memo saying that 10 employees have tested positive. The memo also stated that 200 people would be tested per day from July 14 to July 16.

The Treasury is a crucial institution at the heart of financial operations within the government.

On the third floor of Teleposta Towers, where the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is housed, employees of the department of correctional services tested positive for the virus.

MINISTRY STAFF NOT INFECTED

However, none of the ministry’s workers are infected, the director of communication told the Nation.

The Principal Secretary, Ms Esther Koimett, in a memo to employees, said they had scaled down operations to minimise the risk of infection. 

As a result, staff and interns have been asked to work from home with fumigation set for Saturday.

The revelations come barely two days after the Public Service Commission (PSC) also scaled down its operations after confirmation of 10 cases among its staff, following testing of its entire workforce carried out on July 1.

In a memo to all staff, the PSC not only asked employees to proceed on self-isolation at home but added that the commission will be closed for 14 days — from June 13 to 24 — and access to the offices will be restricted.

“During this period, access to commission offices will be restricted except where there is prior clearance by the secretary/CEO,” the memo reads.

The PSC headquarters is adjacent to various government offices, including the State Law Office, Harambee House and Jogoo House. It’s a tricky situation within government because some services cannot be delivered from home.

PROTECT THEMSELVES

On Tuesday, the acting director-general for health, Dr Patrick Amoth, said there are jobs that cannot be done via telework and employees have been instructed to abide by social distancing guidelines to protect themselves.

 “We will take various measures in government institutions to ensure that we scale down and therefore limit further spread of the virus,” he said.

This came after news emerged that 41 workers at Pumwani Hospital, the largest maternity referral facility in the country, had tested positive.

Dr Amoth said the government would not shut down the hospital, which was once an epicentre for the virus and had to be put on lockdown for containment.

In Mombasa, the Judiciary and the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) have borne the biggest burden of the virus, which saw several courts closed after 11 staffers tested positive.

SELF-QUARANTINE

Some 118 members who were identified as contact persons were sent on self-quarantine for 14 days.

Court activities have been slowed down with only one judge handling urgent cases and the rest working via virtual platforms.

In a new guideline issued by the court after deliberations by Court Users Committee, it was directed that all and only urgent matters will be handled by Presiding Judge Eric Ogola three days each week.

“There will be no open court proceedings, to be reviewed at the lapse of the intervening period,” the committee said.

At the port, despite its operations having slowly resumed, it is yet to meet its target as it became the tourist hub’s virus infection point.

So far, KPA has lost two staffers to the disease, with hundreds others having tested positive.

At one point in May, the port agency had to rent out a top government owned hotel as an isolation centre for its staff. It also became the first state agency to see 1,000 of its staff undergo testing.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) offices and services at the port were also affected by the viral outbreak, which also saw a number of its staff quarantined in various facilities after they came into contact with other port workers.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has also had its services affected, even though none of its staffers has tested positive.

The issuance of log books, driving licences and inspection of vehicles has slowed down as the agency implements phased resumption of these services.

Reporting by John Kamau, Nasibo Kabale and Allan Olingo