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The coronavirus pandemic has brought upheaval and Kenya, like the rest of the world, has taken drastic measures to combat it.

Consequently, a lot of positive things are emerging, providing the country with an opportunity to change how it operates. 

Two key things. The first is hygiene. For the longest time, Kenyans have treated hygiene very casually. Kenyan towns are dirty, and open-air food vendors are the worst.

Now, all shopping establishments have water and soap for customers and there are sanitisers everywhere.

People must now wash hands. Handshakes are banned, and people have adapted.

All public areas and transport are being fumigated. The National and County governments must now move to make these measures a permanent feature of the country’s laws.

Legislate hygiene into the Public Health Act and county by-laws. The country must also not return to handshakes.

The second is debilitating cultures which have stymied communities. Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya led governors in closing mortuaries in Nyanza and Western Kenya to compel their residents to bury their dead immediately—a brave move.

This is to stop people gathering for funerals. Gatherings are the epicentres in spreading Covid-19. Of course, it has been a massive cultural shock!

Funerals are a debilitating cultural practice that has created economic destitution across that region.

Those residents now have an opportunity to do away with it. Indeed, the governors should now move to discourage a return to these cultural practices.

Legislate against them countrywide, if necessary, including a time limit for burials. 

The crisis has shutdown the political cacophony that had brought the country to the brink.

It has propelled President Uhuru Kenyatta back into the country’s body politic as the key pillar around which the country’s affairs are anchored.

The country is now looking to only one person to lead it out of this crisis—Uhuru. 

Indeed, the government’s response to the crisis has been widely acclaimed as being robust and confidence-inspiring.

This has given the President the latitude and space to re-calibrate the country and bring it back onto the rails.

With the clamour for a referendum now on the back burner, the President can recapture the BBI initiative. He should only allow politics again in 2022. 

He should use this opportunity to pick up one or two agendas and drive them all the way to 2022. 

The most obvious is healthcare. Right now, the focus of the whole country is on its health system.

This should become the core agenda for the government. It should invest in robust facilities, medical personnel, and equipment in all counties, covering all Kenyans.

Coronavirus is a warning to our leaders: develop your own hospitals because you can get stuck in your country.

Another obvious agenda is the economy. Oil prices globally have crashed. The government should pass the full benefit of the oil price fall to the economy as long as it lasts. This will drive all costs down, a welcome boost to the battered economy.

Seek emergency funding for an economic bailout from the World Bank and Africa Development Bank to sustain the budget for at least two years.

Stop government borrowing domestically, and release bank credit that the economy badly needs. This way,  banks will return to lending to businesses, a role they long forgot.

Have serious discussions with the Chinese government to reschedule payment of their loans. 

Slash loan interest rates. All global economies have reduced interest rates to near zero to assist economies.

Kenya cannot be the only country in the world that expects to support its economy amid exploitative interest rates.

The Central Bank has the means to offer easy credit to banks to enable them cut interest rates below 10 per cent during the crisis.

Finally, Kenya must put in place permanent vigilance and a crises response system for viruses.

Believe me, the next virus attack after coronavirus is now in diapers. Use response to coronavirus as a full dress rehearsal for the fire next time. —[email protected]