It was a Friday like any other, and like it is typical for Kenyans, we were winding down the week getting ready for a blissful weekend as always. However, the enemy lurking outside our borders had crossed over as we would find out moments after 10am when the then just installed Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe walked down the steps of Harambee House delivering the heartbreaking news to the public.
What followed in the aftermath of the breaking news was pandemonium. Tens of Kenyans dashing into stores to stock up on essentials, perhaps taking a page from citizens abroad who had done the same.
The price of key essentials addressing the new emergence such as face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitisers would soar in hours while our own Nairobi Securities Exchange shed nearly Kshs. 120 billion as foreign investor closed on local positions.
In the days that followed the first announcements, the number of infections begun to rise steadily. Most of us were glued to our television sets and radios every afternoon as if confronting reality.
CS Kagwe would in days become a household feature briefing us on the count of new cases and contact tracing statistics.
In a little over a week, the crisis had been laid bare as we were informed of more and diverse cases prompting the government to act tough to manage the runaway unfolding cases.
For only the third time after the 1952 State of Emergency declaration and foiled 1982 coup attempt, Kenyans were now the subject of a dusk to dawn curfew.
Schools were closed indefinitely, another first in living memory, places of worship would also close as did hotels, passenger flights suspended and borders shut.
Employers were encouraged to allow employees to work from home, even sports events were cancelled, and before most people realized it, we were treading a new normal.
Reality sinks
As the pandemic continued to weigh heavy on not just health, as fatalities became evident, but also the economy as businesses closed down and jobs got cut, the government instituted measures to purpose a soft-landing for the country.First, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) would use its regulator role of the banking sector to cut transaction fees on all mobile-money transactions not surpassing the Kshs.1000 mark as it desired cashless transactions during the pandemic.Further, the reserve bank required banks to restructure loan payment to customers while it lowered both its base lending rate and its cash-reserve […]
