Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Saturday, April 18, informed of an incident where a truck driver ferried passengers from Nairobi to Homa Bay.
Speaking during a press briefing at Afya House, the CS stated that the group had carried an empty coffin in the vehicle and duped the officers at the roadblocks that they were going for a funeral.
"The governor of Homa Bay informed me of a group of people who travelled from Nairobi in a private vehicle pretending that they were attending a funeral, fully equipped with an empty coffin to illustrate that they were mourners.
"Those people travelled all the way from Nairobi to Homa Bay during this period when we have stopped movement. Thanks to the Homa Bay administration, somebody got suspicious, opened the coffin found and out that it was empty," he continued.
Mutahi confirmed that the group had immediately been put under quarantine, informing that the driver had tested positive for Covid-19.
"This person has now taken the disease to Homa Bay where we have now tested the first positive case in Homa Bay because of very selfish reasons," the CS pointed out.
He added that those who were in the vehicle were very respectable individuals.
"I just want to reiterate the importance of maintaining the values that we are impacting on the people including social distancing when using public transport," he stated.
Mutahi informed that he had been informed of Kenyans who were bribing officers at roadblocks so as to go in and out of the cities.
"Once they get to a roadblock, they pay and go round the roadblock and walk and are taken again by an empty vehicle," he stated.
He further warned lorry and matatu drivers from smuggling people in and out of the restricted areas failure to which, they would face the consequences.
“We have also noted that there are people who are not complying with the movement restrictions in and out of counties, and even from neighbouring countries. On this, I want to caution truck drivers who I’m informed are smuggling people from one restricted area to another.
“I want to tell such irresponsible persons that they are rolling back our efforts to fight the disease; the enforcement agencies are there to deal with these issues, not to become participants in it," Mutahi cautioned.
Below is a video courtesy of Daily Nation;
