On Friday, May 22, police officers manning the Eastleigh roadblock teargassed residents of Mlango Kubwa, an estate that borders Eastleigh.
Joseph Kamau (not his real name), a resident in Mlango Kubwa told Kenyans.co.ke that members of the estate were making their way into Eastleigh to look for menial jobs and to sell groceries.
"Previously, the residents would bribe officers at the roadblock and they would be allowed to make their way to Eastleigh but today, the officers refused," Kamau told this writer on condition of anonymity.
Police officers were forced to lob teargas to disperse the crowd that was baying for their blood and insisted on crossing to Eastleigh.
This came two days after Health CS Mutahi Kagwe announced an extension of the cessation of movement in and out of Eastleigh and Mombasa Old Town until June 6, 2020.
The CS explained that the cessation of movement was aimed at combating further spread of the virus in the two hotspots.
"An extension of the cessation of movement in and out of Eastleigh in Nairobi until Saturday, June 6 and an extension of the cessation of movement in and out of Old Town Mombasa until Saturday, June 6, 2020," announced the CS.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir condemned the extension of the lockdown, noting that it was ill-advised.
The leader complained that the government had not involved them in making this decision.
"There is a reason why the bill of rights is one of the biggest chapters in the constitution. I do not see how it is going to work because the first two weeks didn't work," Abdulswamad stated.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, however, government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna maintained that the restrictions would remain in place and easing of the restrictions would derail the current progress made to curb the spread of Covid-19.
"The measures cannot be relaxed because they were not targetting specific areas they were for the entire country and they have been put in place for the wellbeing of the whole country," Oguna stated.
