Great governments protect senior citizens

The family of Yasin Moyo, who was allegedly killed by police officers while enforcing the nationwide curfew in Huruma, Nairobi, buries their kin as they demand justice, on March 31, 2020. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • As regards Covid-19, the people most at risk are our senior citizens, most of whom will have existing medical conditions and are frail.
  • The gravity of the situation was underscored by President Kenyatta’s apology to Kenyans for the terror unleashed on them by the police.

Pictures of crowds of animated people pleading with police to let them through roadblocks were this week shared all over social media.

In most cases it was Nairobians returning to the capital only to encounter stern police enforcing a new order banning movement into and out of Nairobi.

While the order also affected the Coast counties of Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi, these were allowed some time to prepare for the clampdown.

But the capital’s ban went into effect only hours after President Uhuru Kenyatta's announcement. There’s food for thought here going forward.

The time given the Coast counties to prepare to go into containment should have been extended to Nairobi.

This is so because the new order vastly extended the boundaries of the capital, going back to the 2008 metropolitan borders.

That’s where confusion first set in. Who was in and who was out, north and south, east and west of the capital?

There was something else the president’s men had to make clear: the ban did not affect movement within the capital.

NYUMBA KUMI

That may have created more confusion, especially in view of the dusk-to-dawn curfew already in place.

In times of great stress such as these, it is vital that government pronouncements are as unambiguous as possible, both for the ordinary people and for the enforcers.

The chaos that was witnessed at the Likoni ferry crossing as the curfew came into force need not have happened.

Leaders should have known that come what may the throng seeking to cross would not beat the curfew deadline.

Organisation came after untold suffering, especially for the vulnerable. By vulnerable I mean the old, the infirm, the young, the sick and the pregnant.

We must organise our queues in such a way as to have special places for them. And we must as a people learn to love and respect the queues and the place of the vulnerable in them.

As regards Covid-19, the people most at risk are our senior citizens, most of whom will have existing medical conditions and are frail.

Now more than ever, the Nyumba Kumi system should serve to keep tabs on old people.

POLICE BRUTALITY

At this time of a crisis every health facility has been readied for Covid-19 and non-critical surgeries have been suspended.

We cannot argue with that, but there is the risk that vulnerable groups suffering from different diseases could be forgotten.

It is a tough balancing act, but it is important to bear in mind that it is old people who are hit by all manner of ailments and lead the numbers occupying, and in need of, hospital beds.

Covid-19 is keeping us away from our senior citizens, but disease will not keep away from them.

Government must protect its senior citizens, especially because most played their role building the current facilities and institutions.

In their time of need, made worse by a national crisis, the government should be there for them. Great governments protect senior citizens.

Unfortunately, some of our senior citizens have been brutalised by police enforcing the curfew.

What exactly is the task or area of activity assigned to the Kenya Police Service in relation to enforcing the curfew?

When police maim and kill to enforce an order, the Service is not fit for purpose.

GANG IN UNIFORM

It is not fit for purpose because, as its name implies, it exists to serve the people of Kenya.

But what was witnessed across Kenya depicted officers who were at war against their own people, all of them defenceless, and all of them completely at their mercy.

The gravity of the situation was underscored by President Kenyatta’s apology to Kenyans for the terror unleashed on them by the police.

But the president insisted that if all Kenyans worked together and pulled in the same direction, “we shall overcome”. No, the police deserved an earful.

I have always asked this question of the police: who do the public turn to when the gang is in uniform?

Perhaps I should change and ask a different question: how does a police officer view the Kenyan public? Until Vigilance House weighs in, I hold that the Service regards us as enemies.

There is a long way to go before we can begin to talk about green shoots, and there will be more from the government.

It should be unambiguous. But above everything else, the government must protect the vulnerable groups.