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Passengers board a matatu at the Green Park Terminus in Nairobi. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]
The Catholic Church has warned against a rushed reopening of the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement on Wednesday, the church urged the government to relax the rules on Covid vaccines to encourage a faster uptake.
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) said it is premature to abandon the enforcement of preventive regulations on Covid before a critical number of Kenyans have been vaccinated.
This comes as players in the public transport sector have welcomed the new directive to allow them to self-regulate and carry full capacity starting Monday.
The Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Transport, Christopher Obure, announced the news on Friday after meeting stakeholders.
According to Mr Edwin Mukabana, the chairman of the Association of Bus Operators Kenya, over 127,000 workers in the sector lost have lost jobs so far.
The bishops who were speaking during a meeting with Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i took issue with the decision to allow matatus and other public transport vehicles to resume the carrying of passengers at full capacity, saying the move is likely to incite other sectors to abandon Covid restrictions on gatherings.
“We are disheartened by the fact that the fourth wave of Covid-19, which is more infections and dangerous than the previous ones, has hit the country. Most of the public transport containment measures have been lifted,” the Church said in a memo read by KCCB chair and Mombasa Diocese Bishop Martin Kivuva.
The clerics urged the government to do away with restrictions on the age, occupation and the number of people who can be vaccinated in any one given centre to boost the number of those who have received the jab so far.
The Church said it would offer its health institutions across the country to speed up mass vaccination.
According to Dr. Matiangi, the government is targeting to vaccinate 15 million Kenyans by the end of the year.
He pleaded with the Church to encourage more citizens to take the Covid-19 jab.
“We have received an offer for 13 million doses from Johnson & Johnson that will be arriving in the country in the coming days. With this consignment, we believe we have enough doses to reach at least 15 million people by December 15 this year.
“We regard the Church as an important partner in our effort to ensure a critical mass of Kenyans has received this important jab.”
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