Residents of Kajiado Central caused a scare after they surrounded a farm in the Duka Moja area armed with crude weapons to protest a group of people had allegedly been ferried into the farm in the middle of the night.
According to a report by the Kenya News Agency (KNA) on Friday, April 3, the area residents were ticked off by news that eight women and five men were brought to work on the farm and were all sleeping in one tiny house in total disregard of social distancing in the wake of the Covid 19 outbreak.
They reportedly surrounded the farm to demand the exit of the strangers as they expressed the fear of having the pandemic introduced into their villages.
A village elder identified as John Merin insisted that the group was sleeping in a poorly ventilated house and had no masks and if any of them had the virus it would easily spread to the village.
He further defended the gathering of villagers with the information that the government had directed that people should reduce unnecessary travels and work from home to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
He insisted that the farm owner was in contravention of that directive by bringing groups of people to work on the farms without providing them with masks or sanitizers.
“We don’t want any visitors here, the Government said everyone should work from home so as to reduce the spread of the virus and yet people are being ferried from other places to come and work here in total disregard of the preventive measures issued,” Merin was quoted.
Another resident noted that there was no water or soap placed at the gate of the farm and people walked in and out in total disregard of the preventive measures laid out by the Ministry of Health, thereby putting the village at risk.
“We have to protect ourselves and our children. We cannot allow just anyone to come here and mingle with villagers yet they could be having the disease. Everyone should stay home so as to reduce the spread of this disease,” she stated.
It took the intervention of area MCA Samuel Teum to calm down the angry residents, after which the farm owner clarified that the workers would be hosted elsewhere after working on the farm, further stating that sanitation facilities and masks would be provided.
Kajiado County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha urged residents to strictly adhere to directives issued by the Ministry of Health so as to avoid contracting the Coronavirus.
He directed all public facilities to ensure that they provide soap and water for their customers and ensure that they wash their hands first before being attended to.
