President Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement on Friday introducing new stringent measures against Covid-19 must have caught many by surprise. Yet most small traders, must feel the wrath of these measures more than the rest. Not that they expected the President to come with good news.
Everyone knew that the positivity rate had jumped as many people got infected. News of Kenyans, some prominent members of society succumbing to the disease, were alarming.
There were news reports of how Intensive Care Units were full. Something had to be done to check the surge in the third wave of infections.
No business expected that to be a lockdown of five counties which together comprise the heartbeat of the Kenyan economy. No one expected the government to reduce business hours by revising downwards the dusk-to-dawn curfew. But this is what President Kenyatta did. As a result, a lot of hotels have had to cancel and refund customers for Easter bookings. The transport sector will be disrupted once again. And for hotels and restaurants, it feels like de javu, they were here last year.
Selling of alcohol has been banned and operation of all bars and nightclubs suspended indefinitely. While all this is happening, what the government had put in place, such tax reliefs and debt repayment holidays, are coming to an end.
It is only fair that the government comes up with a stimulus package to help these businesses, especially small ones, navigate the pandemic. That is, if they plan to have these measures in place for long.
