In a video conference broadcasted on all leading television stations, President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, April 1, revealed that two Kenyans have been cured of the Covid-19 virus.
The two were, Ivy Brenda Cherotich, the first patient to be diagnosed with Coronavirus in Kenya and the other, Brian Okinda, who was the third patient.
Brenda would later be sought after by two of the leading television stations in the country, Citizen TV and NTV, for an interview.
She appeared on both and it is in these interviews that a section of Kenyans found some inconsistencies.
Age
To begin with, during her interview on NTV she stated that she was 26 years old, which contrasted with what Health CS Mutahi Kagwe announced during his first presser about the pandemic.
"They said I was 27-years-old but I am 26 so I was a little confused but I later joined the dots," Brenda clarified.
Receiving the news
While being interviewed on both stations, Brenda stated that she had received news about being the first Coronavirus patient in the country from the media.
"I stayed in KNH for one day before the results came back...I learnt of the diagnosis from the media but I wouldn't blame the doctors because they had so much that was going on," Brenda stated.
Kenyans questioned if that was ethically right.
"Is that even medically ethical? Then you also don't know her right age? Didn't you get her details before treatment?" Yuri questioned.
Recovery Time
Kenyans on Twitter questioned why there were no recovery times for the patient. They faulted her for going to the media immediately after being released from the hospital.
"Where does Brenda get the energy to go to the media first even before going to see her family? Does that make sense?" Bravin Yuri questioned.
Brian and Brenda's relationship
Netizens pulled out photos of Brenda and Brian together after she stated that she got know of Brian's name in the isolation ward.
In the photos that have since gone viral, Brian's face was circled, and some netizens implied that it is not the first time the two were meeting.
"I came to know Brian's name when I saw him being brought into the isolation ward, so this is when I realised that this is someone I had seen come into the house on one or two instances. Brian was one of the people who came into the house," Brenda stated on Citizen TV.
Reactions
Kenyans faulted the president for exposing Brenda, stating that it was just a public relations stunt.
Most took their grievances on Twitter, with the name 'Brenda' trending at number one for the better part of Thursday morning and Brian trending as number two.
"The imposed Brenda was meant to mask the scary jump by 22 patients. Fake!!" a Twitter user remarked.
"When the government is fond of lying, nobody believes them even when they might have done the right thing. From the social media posts I see, nobody believes Brenda was sick. How can they win Kenyan's trust? another questioned.
"Patient 1 Brenda sounds like a PhD graduate of the Jubilee school of PR.," Suba weighed in.
"When Brenda started hopping from one media house to the next instead of going home to recuperate, I remembered the rumour that Kenya declared her patient 1 after World Bank promised to fund for affected countries?" Njenga noted.
