Prior to COVID-19 outbreak and taking into account the
advances in the medical field witnessed in the recent past, never had mankind
thought that a mere virus would threaten the world. Doomsday prophets envisaged
a scenario where a demented megalomaniac in the Middle East or East Asia would
deploy nuclear arsenal on civilization in a vain attempt to assert dominance.
Subsequently, the Group of Five: USA, UK, Israel, Australia,
and New Zealand thought this scenario was all covered up. Through real-time
intelligence sharing gathered dubiously through spyware technology, they
ensured they were ahead of their rivals. In a fit of paranoia, the intelligence
community, particularly in the US, employed developed and employed tools of
mass surveillance, leading to a condition named by whistleblower Edward Snowden
as “immortality of data.”
Trapped in this hubris, they failed to monitor the mutation
of pathogens that have time and again threatened to wipe out mankind from the
face of the earth. Towards the end of the last millennium, Spanish Flu
decimated over 50 million persons. It’s estimated 675,000 of those were from
the USA. Plagues or what they have christened as ‘the invisible enemy’ killed times
more than all wars that have ever been fought.
In the COVID 19 fight, a new paradigm has emerged. The
global community is not only fighting a biological enemy but an agent that has
turned their political, economic, and social life topsy turvy. Nobody will
emerge out of this fight unscathed; we are only praying that the wounds will
not be fatal.
Responses by governments have been based on speculative
information given that very little is known about the virus. Most are involved
in nail-biting, hoping that the mass imprisonment of billions will yield fruits
praying it’s not another knee-jerk response by amateurish bureaucrats.
So far, results have been mixed. China allegedly succeeded
after enforcing a lockdown in Hubei Province. Sweden, Burundi, and Tanzania
have gone the herd immunity way refusing to shut down their economies, allowing
the healthy to mingle freely while monitoring the unhealthy.
In Kenya, as of now, four counties are on partial lockdown
or containment on top of 7 pm to 5 am curfew. Our infections have grown
arithmetically rather that geometrically contrary to what some pessimists and
conspiracy theorists predicted.
As the media bombards us with images of thousands who have
succumbed, we have failed to acknowledge the slow and looming death hanging
above us emanating from the economic disruptions wrought by the virus.
With 49% of the people living below the poverty line and the
absence of social safety net, the majority of Kenyans are now faced with the
real threat of dying from hunger, particularly in the informal settlements.
The informal nature of our economy compels the majority of
Kenyans to go to work to put food on the table. In most parts of Nairobi,
businesses record most sales after 6.00 pm when the majority of workers are
heading home from work. The mama mbogas, maize roasters, mandazi, chapatti,
chips ‘mwitu’, fishmongers, kiosk owners, second-hand clothes sellers record
peak sales from 6.00 pm. Nighttime curfew has disrupted all that.
It’s quite hard to quantify the suffering that is being
borne by these vulnerable Kenyans. A talk with a few acquaintances reveals that
around 90% have been unable to honour their rent obligations. Food appeals have
dominated social media conversations where well-wishers have been organizing
some disbursements.
In a clear case of double jeopardy, politicians jeered on by
the faux middle class have insisted on total lockdown. In an ostentatious
display of callousness, Nakuru Governor is quoted as saying, “we would rather
deal with hunger later.”
The pandemonium that was witnessed in Kibra is a clear
indication of the desperation and desolation that afflicts Kenyans. There is no
dignity in hunger, and our leaders have decided to make maximum capital out of
our indignities.
This one size fits all approaches not accompanied by food
distribution programmes for the poor, relief fund for employees who have been
rendered redundant, and small businesses that have closed will turn out to be
counterproductive.
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To quote H.L. Menken, “For every problem, there is a solution
that is simple, direct and wrong.”