More than two million jobs have been lost in the past year due to Covid-19 pandemic impacting directly on 10 million households, a new report reveals.
The report titled ‘Changing Times, Covid-19 and Access To Justice in Kenya’ by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) highlights some of the policy and legislation measures which need to be addressed.
KNCHR Chief Executive Dr Bernard Mogesa (pictured) cited the informal sector as the worst hit by the pandemic which saw thousands of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) closed down leading to loss of many jobs. “Only those working in government and parastatals were able to sustain themselves but the private sector was adversely affected,” he said adding: We need to come up with laws and policies on how to deal with the pandemics because they are not covered by the existing labour laws,” Mogesa said during the launch of the report in Eldoret yesterday.
Access to justice
The report by the commission, which is the third since the pandemic hit the country, focuses on the effects of Covid-19 on labour.
The report also revealed that the pandemic adversely impacted on access to justice especially people with disabilities and people in rural areas, who were not able to use technology to access justice.
Mogesa, however, lauded the government for its mitigation measures to cushion Kenyans against the effects of the pandemic including the cash transfer programme for various vulnerable groups identified.
According to the report, Kenyans are of the opinion that the government should focus on economic recovery.
“The issue that is coming out clearly is that even when 2022 campaigns take centre stage, focus should also shift on economic recovery to sustain livelihoods,” said Mogesa.
The report also raised concern over the rising cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) during the pandemic. “We need to have a national conversation to end GBV and put in place strategies to end this vice.  No one should lose their lives because of gender based violence. We also implore Kenyans not to use GBV as a tool during the electioneering period,” the report states.
The report recommends that more resources be channeled to the National Police Service (NPS) to address mental health issues among officers after rampant murder and suicide cases.