Kenya’s National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi downplayed fears over Covid-19 infections in parliament, saying only two legislators had tested positive for the virus.
But the confirmation of the two cases in parliament has put public health protocols at Kenya’s seats of power in the spotlight, after infections were also reported in State House last month.
On June 15, State House spokesperson Kanze Dena Mararo said that four State House staff had tested positive for the virus in a routine check-up, prompting enhancement of alert levels that included cancellation of all face-to-face meetings for President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Mr Muturi, in a letter to the House on Tuesday, dismissed media reports that up to six MPs had contracted the virus as sensational, and sought to reassure the public that lawmakers and parliamentary staff were observing strict hygiene and social distancing rules.
However, the issue is that public health guidelines are being flouted by the people who should be living by them.
Because parliament still has to conduct business to keep the country running, under the guidelines introduced in April, only 70 of the 349 members are allowed into the debating chamber where seats are frequently disinfected; those aged above 58 are encouraged to work from home, while entry to the public gallery is restricted to a handful technical staff.
Public health guidelines introduced in March to contain the spread of the coronavirus include banned political gatherings and restricted emergency social gatherings, such as burials, to no more than 15. Additional measures are a dusk-to-dawn curfew and cessation of movement in and out of the Nairobi Metropolitan Area and Mombasa, after they were mapped as hotspots. The areas are still under lockdown.
But politicians, including the president, have tended to flout the new public health rules, holding meetings, some with hundreds of people in attendance, or moving in and out of restricted areas.
To mitigate the situation, public health officials have used the infections in State House and parliament to reinforce the message that no one is safe from the virus. Health officials have also been at pains to explain incidents where the political elite breach the rules.
On June 22, President Kenyatta chaired the ruling party’s parliamentary group meeting at the Kenya International Convention Centre in Nairobi, weeks after hosting a similar one attended by more than 200 MPs at State House.
In April, opposition leader Raila Odinga was criticised for leaving the Nairobi Metropolitan Area to Kajiado County, to the home of Francis Atwoli, the secretary general of Kenya’s trade unions umbrella body Cotu.
In western Kenya, police officers dispersed meetings convened by politicians loyal to DP Ruto.
