An anxious nation pins all its hopes on Uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Nyayo National Stadium on September 26.

Bar owners who have been hard hit by Covid-19 are crossing their fingers that they will be allowed to resume regular business.

Reports by the Alcoholic Beverages Association of Kenya project that job losses across the alcohol value chain, which includes farmers and factories, will hit 57,417 by end of this month. Their analysis also shows that demand for barley and sorghum will fall by three million kilos and 4.8 million kilos, respectively.

“It has been six months of closed shops, jobless employees, and unpaid suppliers and landlords. It has been extremely difficult,” said Pubs, Entertainment, and Restaurants Association of Kenya trustee Patrick Muya. 

Matatu owners are hopeful that President Uhuru Kenyatta will lift the 9pm-5am curfew and allow night travel to resume.

Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai said they are sinking in losses, adding that they are trying to engage the government to offer them subsidies.

“Our revenues were cut by half because of social distancing and reduced working hours. Most people were told to work from home, so getting customers became a struggle,” Kimutai said.

Investment

The business community is hoping the sectors that were closed will be reopened, and the government will embark on facilitating investments to kick-start the economy.

Private Sector Alliance CEO Carol Karuga said Uhuru’s address should factor in protocols to get business permits so that investors do not have to struggle for approvals.

“It should be on things like reduction of VAT and other forms that trickle down to every business owner who needs it,” said Karuga.

Business owners are also hoping for a stimulus to help members bounce back.

Serah Awino, a parent, said she will be waiting for the president to give guidance on reopening of schools, and the protocols that will be put in place to curb spread of Covid-19.

“It is not clear when and how the children will report. Let the president clarify things for parents,” she said.

Renee Kajuju, a businesswoman in Nairobi, said the president should encourage the police to arrest people who break Covid-19 rules. Kajuju said as a diabetic patient, she was worried at how casually people were treating the virus.

“The doctors made it clear to me that I cannot risk contracting the disease. I could die. I am always extra careful and it saddens me that social distancing and wearing of masks have been forgotten. It is business as usual.”

Grace Cheptoo, who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in December last year, said she was missing a hug. There are nights when the pain of the disease becomes too much, she said, and the uncertainty of whether she will see the next day creeps in.

Cheptoo said she needed assurance, like the two-hour visits she would get from her palliative-care nurse twice a week before the pandemic.

“With Covid, the nurses cannot visit. I miss people coming to sit with me and not worry that they have to beat the curfew hours.”

Psychologists said they want President Kenyatta to give guidance on how the country can heal from the anxiety, missed opportunities and losses that coronavirus brought. 

“People are hurting. The future looks bleak for some people who lost jobs and sources of income. The question is how to heal individually and as a nation,” says Gertrude Gitaa, a counsellor, who warned that unresolved trauma could lead to a health crisis.