Let pragmatism guide Corona deliberations
By Editorial, July 27, 2020
President Uhuru Kenyatta will today chair a high-level meeting between the Executive and the Council of Governors after it was postponed from Friday last week.
The meeting comes in the heat of opposing expectations regarding a review of the State guidelines on the coronavirus pandemic, set after consultations with health experts and other key stakeholders.
On top of the issues the President and his courtiers have scheduled for deliberation today, we propose that pragmatism be the guiding principle.
Pragmatism because the county chiefs have in the ebb and tide of time since the outbreak of Covid-19 back in March turned out to be the weakest link in the fight against the pandemic.
From whichever angle you look at the disease and its rapid spread, governors have not been robust in their response.
Preparations for the expected rise in patient numbers in the counties have been far from satisfactory.
Whereas governors have repeatedly expressed desire to be allocated massive funds towards expanding and equipping health facilities, they have on the other hand shown little enthusiasm in fighting the scourge.
Sadly, a number of them are currently engaged in pay disputes with health workers in their jurisdictions while others have failed to provide necessary tools including personal protection gear for their hospital employees. This is pathetic indeed.
What’s more, some of the governors working in concert with some politicians have taken a brazenly defiant position in flouting guidelines meant to defeat spread of the virus.
How do they expect the people they lead to practise social distancing when the leaders are at the forefront organising self-serving political rallies?
As we argued ahead of the President’s Covid-19 update on July 6, the Head of State must weigh all the options on the table and endorse only those that will help the country overcome this faceless enemy.
Again, like last time, a fine well thought out balance between the economy and peoples’ wellbeing must be the yardstick.
Above all, we are asking the President to be candid with his visitors and tell them the bitter truth.
That coronavirus knows no one’s political or social status; it is a unapologetic enemy that must be fought by each and everyone of us, with governors taking the leadership role in the counties.