By Okong’o Oduya
Busia County, Kenya: Elected leaders in Busia County have been urged to be on the forefront in the fight against Covid-19.
Busia governor Sospeter Ojaamong called upon all elected leaders in the county to go back to their electorates and educate the public of what is required in combating the virus.
In a meeting that brought together the elected leaders in Busia county to examine the level of preparedness, chaired by Busia county governor Sospeter Ojaamong and Busia county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri, Ojaamong said, it is prudent for the elected leaders to apply the same criteria they used when campaigning to let the public know how they can protect themselves from the pandemic.
We are telling the public to wash their hands, put on masks, maintain social distance and staying at home in fight against this pandemic, most of them they need more education why they are doing so. You are the best people to do that,” he said.
For those returning from other towns to their rural homes, Ojaamong wanted local administration and the community at large to avoid mingling with those from other towns saying doing that puts them at a higher risk of infections.
He advised them to be put under isolation for 14 days before they can be allowed to freely walk in society.
He wanted the county commissioner to tighten security along Uganda to block Ugandans from crossing into the country.
“The commissioner, we need to take care of our border points. I see Ugandans crossing into the country that should stop. Ugandan side has put military personnel along their borders to be in charge, any Kenyan crossing to Uganda is beaten up, while here we allow Ugandans to walk freely,” he said.
Teso North Member of Parliament Oku Kaunya wanted Busia County government to equip all health centers in the county to help them deal with the pandemic.
According to him, there is a gap in screening those entering the county, adding that the truck drivers are not being screened in Kenya but when they arrive in Uganda they are screened making it hard for them to detect the disease early.
The Mp wanted the county government to obtain more thermo guns saying that Malaba border post has only one thermo gun making it hard for the health staff there to effectively carry out their work.
Director universal health cover Dr. David Mukabi said since the formation of Busia county emergency response team, they have made strides including training over 300 health care workers on how to deal with corona cases.
He further said the team settled on Alupe sub-county hospital to be the main isolation and treatment center in the county for the covid-19 related cases.
He said so far the county has tested 26 cases but 24 of them turned negative and still waiting for the results for 2 cases that were identified in Malaba.
However, Mukabi faulted the county government of Busia for failure to acquire well- equipped ambulance to deal with covid-19 related cases. He also said some medical health workers in the county are worried a lot due to the lack of enough personal protective pieces of equipment.
Busia county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri said they are identifying an alternative place to park trailers to decongest the town.
“We are going to relocate these trucks to somewhere else to reduce congestion. These truck drivers come all the way in Mombasa when they arrive here they mingle with the locals. For us to minimize that we need to find a place to park them when they leave, they don’t stop anywhere,” he said
Kanyiri said they have erected roadblocks in all entry points in Busia County, at Bumala along Busia-Kisumu, Busia-kakamega road, and then Busia-Malaba roads respectively where they screen every person entering and leaving the county.
Speaker Busia county assembly Bernard Wamalwa asked the county response committee to bring the assembly members on board in the fight over the pandemic adding that the members of county assembly are the leaders in grass root level and leaving them out of the plans is unfortunate urging the MCAs to serve as an example.
He said the assembly said will allocate enough resources in fighting covid-19 in the county.
