Kenyans have warmed up to the spirit of helping the less fortunate in the society in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
The COVID-19 pandemic has sent untold economic shocks to Kenyans at large but those in the informal sector are more affected especially with reduced movement and closure of the informal sector as a measure to curb the spread of the disease.
In the last few weeks, corporates and individuals have donated foodstuff, safety gear – face masks, sanitizers – and money to help in dealing with the pandemic.
On Thursday, opposition leader Raila Odinga through the Raila Odinga Foundation donated foodstuff worth Sh15 million to Kibera residents. Deejay Kriss Darlin recently held an online performance and raised Ksh 250,000 which will go into buying hand sanitizers, masks and other safety gear.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa last week purchased 400 bags of dry maize to feed his constituents while Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo did the same for his constituents.
“I have honoured my promise of spending my accumulated salary of four months to purchase 200 bags of dry maize that had already been delivered at one of our stores in Kimilili,” he said adding “At the same time, I have ordered an additional 200 bags of dry maize to meet the demand which is likely to rise due to the high number of the vulnerable as a result of the deadly #COVID19KE pandemic bringing the total to 400 bags,” he stated last week.
Devki Steel Mills founder and chairman Narendra Raval opened the list of corporates who have contributed towards the COVID-19 Fund with Sh100 million donation. Cooperative Bank also donated Sh100 million while Jumia Kenya donated Sh100, 000 masks to health workers.
Private enterprises under the banner National Business Compact Coalition – Kenya chapter have so far contributed Sh70 million towards battling coronavirus.
Reckitt and Benckiser, PZ Cussons, Live Ad, Unilever, Menengai, Copia, Rotary International, Johnson and Johnson, Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), Twiga, Chandaria, and Microsoft are some of the entities under this chapter.
This philanthropy comes as the country recorded 5 new cases in the last 24 hours leading to Friday, April 10, 2020. The total number of coronavirus patients in the country is 189.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe in his daily briefings told Kenyans on Friday that 10 more patients have recovered putting it to a tally of 22 recovered patients.
The five new patients are all Kenyans – three male and two women aged between 27 and 58. One of them has a history of travel to the UAE.
Three are from Mombasa, while Nairobi and Nyandarua have one case each.
