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Dr David Matsanga. /CFM-FILE.

Fifth Estate

There are attempts to weaponize corruption in fight against COVID-19

By Dr.David Matsanga in London United Kingdom

I write from the bottom of my heart and call a spade a spade. Kenya has handled the pandemic well. Listening to all stakeholders in the Ministry of Health and KEMSA, and analyzing the current turmoil, I have concluded that trouble is with KEMSA. The KEMSA management swallowed the pins of “anosognosia” disease that kills most African intellectuals.

On the other hand, the government’s spirited efforts in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic is beginning to yield fruits with the reducing number of infections. Indeed like other countries, Kenya has been hard hit by the pandemic.

Apart from having a comparatively higher number of tested persons, the country has also registered one of the largest fatalities related to COVID 19. In one of his regular addresses to the nation relating to the fight against COVID-19, the President promised that Kenya would adopt a very transparent approach to fighting the pandemic.

In keeping with this, Kenya continues to publish its COVID-19 statistics. The country’s measures against COVID-19 have been science-led, which is commendable.

However, despite earnest and prompt measures taken by the government to flatten the curve, a lot has been happening around the politics of COVID-19 where the alleged scam at KEMSA has been a trending topic within the public domain.

The reported scandal which EACC and the of the Auditor General are currently examining has been provided traction following an expose by NTV. So as it stands today, there is no factual basis on which someone would claim that money has been mismanaged or lost until the agencies bring out the truth.

This situation notwithstanding, drums of war have been sounded by a section of politicians in Kenya who would rather castigate the government with no evidence at all than wait for the investigative agencies to complete a probe into the alleged scam.

As an observer, I have my own way of speaking out my mind. Due to the allegations of corruption, conniving politicians well known in the public domain for having been named for the umpteenth time in corruption scandals in the past have taken to the alleged KEMSA COVID-19 scam as fodder for politicking and to spread propaganda about the government’s response measures to COVID-19 pandemic.

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The very same politicians, some of whom are still under investigation for multi-billion tender scams in several projects have become very vocal castigating the government’s efforts against corruption.

The fact of the matter is, President Uhuru Kenyatta has made it uncomfortable for unscrupulous politicians to continue plundering public resources. Some of the loudest politicians on the KEMSA saga have been implicated in corruption scandals for the umpteenth time and some are even under active investigations by anti-corruption agencies. Others have pending cases in court.

While I have no intention of downplaying serious allegations as plunder of COVID-19 funds, I suggest that it is much feasible to await reports from the ongoing public audits of the books of KEMSA and any other agencies involved in fighting COVID-19.

I give credit where it fits. Mutahi Kagwe was a blessing in disguise for to manage Kenya Health Ministry at a time like this. Let’s give credit where it is due. He has done his best. Unless you are Mafia or you have studied how mafia work, you can’t fight them. He was frank and told us about the mafia in the Ministry. He did his best and he deserves praise.

I believe firm state measures against COVID-19 have helped the country to scale down on the rate of infections even as the partial lockdown remain in force.

Many Kenyans have lost their livelihoods just like it has happened elsewhere across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse twin impact on both demand and supply in the global value chain and hopefully, the global and national economies shall recover.

Remarkably, President Kenyatta has provided instrumental leadership in fighting COVID-19 which now places Kenya in a better position to be able to plan for its economic recovery post-C0VID-19. No wonder Kenya was listed by Forbes as among 9 countries today, safe for tourism and business travel.

The President has made firm pronouncements on the alleged KEMSA scam and whoever shall be found culpable for having mismanaged the billions shall be held accountable. As a matter of fact, the President has directed KEMSA to publish its procurement processes online for ease of access by members of the public for accountability and transparency purposes.

I know that in Africa there are no deaths without blame. I am aware of those who have now turned the alleged KEMSA scam into a campaign tool against President. Their ultimate intent is to self-preserve in the 2022 General election but Kenyans are alert.

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It is prudish, sardonic, very awkward. No politician will use the alleged KEMSA scam as a ploy to misinform the public about the government’s COVID-19 measures.

I want to remind my comrades in Kenya that these are some of the measures the government of Uhuru Kenyatta has adopted to fight COVID-19 and some of its ripple effects include;

• Various economic stimulus packages which the government intends to cushion the medium and small enterprises adversely affected by the pandemic.

• In the 2020/2021 budget, the government budgeted a Sh56.6 billion post-COVID-19 economic stimulus package to cushion Kenyans from the effects of the pandemic.

• The government also announced a Sh3 billion stimulus package for the tourism and the hospitality sector.

• The Tourism Finance Corporation (TFC) is scheduled to disburse the stimulus package to the hotels and lodges this month.

• The government has also initiated a social welfare protection programme dubbed Kazi Mtaani for casual workers whose daily livelihoods have been disrupted by the pandemic.

•Kazi mtaani is a localized economic recovery program which has been rolled out nationwide and it is aimed at enabling casual workers to cope with their daily social and economic needs as the country lays out a plan for full economic recovery.

• So far, over 270,000 casual workers countrywide have been enrolled into the Kazi mtaani program with a daily wage ranging between Sh455 and Sh505, making it one of the most elaborate socio-economic rescue plan.

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• The government also effected tax reliefs on PAYE for various categories of income brackets to help to cushion Kenyans from the negative impacts of COVID-19.

• The government also announced VAT tax reductions and suspension of listing persons owing credit to various credit institutions by CRBs.

• These are among other measures Kenya has taken in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

In my conclusion and against the background of elaborate measures taken by the government of Kenya to fight COVID-19, insincere political camps and individuals have come out to belittle the President. They have tried to dilute the Government’s success on COVID -19.

I am shocked that some of the people who are in the same Government are accusing the Government‘s COVID-19 measures as if they are not in Government.

It is extremely illogical for them to feign being part of the government when they cannot offer solutions that they pretend to have in order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

I want to thank my Kenyan friends for supporting President Uhuru Kenyatta and his policies. Let Kenyans stop weaponizing corruption.

The writer is a Political Scientist and International Relations with Conflict Resolution Expert bias, an investigative Journalist and a Pan African based in Surrey London, the United Kingdom.

Twitter @Dr.David Matsanga

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