0ver 400 Chinese nationals have reportedly raised concerns over Kenya's ability to handle the escalating Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, arguing that they would be safer back in China.
The foreigners obtained a court order which forces the government to facilitate their return home on Tuesday, June 16.
In a report by Daily Nation on Saturday, June 13, their lawyer, Isaac Okinyo, disclosed that evacuation plans had been arranged following the court order issued by Justice Weldon Korir.
"We went to court last week and argued why it was necessary for the Chinese to be evacuated since they are considered vulnerable. I don't think there is anything to stop them. We were given the go-ahead to process their evacuation.
"They have underlying conditions and others just don't feel safe here. The Kenyan government is facing a huge task on maintaining isolation centres which are full, testing and contact tracing is also a challenge. Let them just go back home as they wish," Okinyo stated.
The lawyer added that the Chinese nationals were awaiting approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under CS Raychelle Omamo.
China's Ambassador to Kenya, Wu Peng, was also recalled by his country and his compatriots will be banking on his return to secure their evacuation.
The Chinese also lamented that they have been discriminated against ever since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Kenya on Friday, March 13.
"The other day, I went to a supermarket and people fled. In hospitals where we go for check-ups, the medics always insist that we should be tested for Covid-19. I am not sure whether I will come back to Kenya," one Chinese woman lamented.
Kenyans had also lamented that the government was favouring Chinese nationals, as Kenyans languished in China. This was after reports emerged that Kenyans had been evicted from their homes and forced to live in the streets in China. In Kenya, a Chinese plane with 239 passengers overboard sparked uproar after it was allowed to land at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after the Coronavirus pandemic broke out.
On Friday, June 12, Kenya had recorded 3,305 Coronavirus cases with 96 fatalities and 1,164 recoveries. Health CS Mutahi Kagwe while addressing the media on Thursday, June 4, acknowledged that isolation camps were congested with a soaring number of admitted patients.
The CS rolled out a home-based care program after explaining that over 80 per cent of patients in the hospital are asymptomatic and can be managed from home.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had earlier on explained that he extended the nationwide curfew and intercounty lockdown in Nairobi and Mombasa Counties after health experts warned him that the country was not ready to handle a full-blown crisis.
"I wanted to open and it was my desire. All who wanted to open are right, same as those against it. If we had not taken the actions we had taken, approximately 75,000 Kenyans would have lost lives," Kenyatta stated. Our health system should also be beefed up before we decide if we shall open. There are counties that have 10 beds in isolation and have already recorded 9 cases," he added.
