Politicians should take Uhuru's directive seriously

President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses the nation during the Fourteenth [14th] Presidential address on the Covid-19 pandemic at State House, Nairobi. [COURTESY]

A day after President Uhuru Kenyatta extended the curfew and issued a raft of other measures aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19, politicians were caught on camera at a funeral in their numbers. The funeral in Western Kenya also had scores of mourners who were clearly outside Uhuru's definition of "immediate family of the deceased".

We understand that it is odd for a person who has lived in a community to be buried only by family members. This is of course alien to the African culture; it is something that will take time to be accepted. However, as has been pointed out many times, these are not ordinary times. To reduce the spread of Covid-19, we must be ready to, among other measures, compromise on our cultures and traditions until the threat dissipates.