Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen has warned the government to provide poor Kenyans with food during these trying moments or they will force their way into affluent residential areas to get food from the rich.
Using an example of Kibra and Mathare slums, the Senate Majority leader claimed that these people might easily break into the adjacent Karen and Muthaiga Estates where the rich live to get food.
Murkomen who moved a motion on the floor of the house on Tuesday said that at least 10 million Kenyan families need a cash transfer stimulus to cushion them from the adverse effects of Coronavirus.
“A broad-based stimulus package is needed to cushion the poor of the poor from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. If we do not guarantee food to Kenyans living in Mathare or Kibera slums, they will walk to Muthaiga to get food for themselves,” he said.
The Kenyan economy is feeling the effects of COVID-19 following the government’s move to ban public gatherings and enforce a dusk to dawn curfew. More than 50% of Kenyans work in the informal sector and have been hugely affected by these measures which are meant to curb the spread of the virus.
While moving a motion in the Senate today I argued that there is need for the establishment of a broad-based stimulus package that will cushion the poor of the poor from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. pic.twitter.com/AoYIdKY09T
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) March 31, 2020
Last week, President Uhuru announced that the government had set aside Ksh 10 billion to be distributed to the elderly, orphans and vulnerable groups.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the fund would be distributed to the annual cash transfers kitty through the Ministry of Labour and social protection.
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“This fund will cushion them from the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Uhuru said during a national address on Wednesday last week.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Labour, there are about 1.1 million people who benefit from this program. Each of them receives Ksh2,000 shillings per month.
