It is Only in Kenya

It is only in Kenya where crazy is celebrated. After the much-awaited presidential press conference, President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta lifted the cessation of movement. Before his speech ended, there was a frenzy of excitement with Dear Kenyans doing what they were warned not to do. Interacting unprotected all over the streets in different counties with Nairobi throwing the best party on the streets.

Dear Kenyans, we are like little children actively defying our mother, who does not spare the rod, whip, belt, or cooking stick. We taunt her to get that surge of misplaced purpose only to regret after the severe beating that lands firmly on our asses, thighs, and backs. I see my Dear Kenyans, celebrating death only for death to walks in and take their lives is a swift, painful, and horrific dance.

The only saving grace echoed by the president, “Should the condition deteriorate, and pose a challenge to our health infrastructure, we will have to revert back to lock down." Dear Kenyans, this is how I interpret this. The conditions will deteriorate, and the health infrastructure will not cope with the rapidly increased Covid-19 cases.

Who are we kidding Dear Kenyans, ourselves? I don't think so. Our lifestyle is putting us at risk of being added to the Corona Virus statistics. We will go back to the streets as if the past three months did not exist. We are the same people who forget to wash our hands and eat street mutura, chipo mwitu, chapatti mayai, muguka, and share dried peanuts so willingly. The safety guards we had put up will all come tumbling down. We are doomed.

“The economy has suffered greatly,” Most of you will reason. “He has done well to open up Nairobi and Mombasa," Majority will reiterate in unison. I hardly disagree, the economy has changed, for good or bad, that is for every Dear Kenyan to decide. So, now that the country is open will the economy improve?

It will for a minute or two, and then it will be downhill from there. The majority of the healthy working force may not survive. Don't misunderstand me. I am not trying to be the prophet of doom. I leave that to prophet Owour. Simply echoing the CS Health, Mutahi Kagwe's viral words, "If you treat this disease normally, it shall treat you abnormally."

Dear Kenyans, you shall not see it coming. Most of you will get infected within this week alone. By the end of the two-week mark, regret and hate will ensue. The following is the best fictional portrayal of Dear Kenyans next one month from three different persons. We shall name them City Dweller, Reserve Dweller, and the Cautious Dweller.

City Dweller

Now, that the cessation of movement has been lifted, the City Dweller has bought a bus ticket to travel to the reserve. He will be departing on 8th July very early in the morning. On the auspicious day, he arrives at the terminal and takes his seat on the bus. Along the journey, his excitement grips him to engage in discussions with the other passengers. He takes off his mask to be more audible. Among them, one or two passengers have Corona Virus, yet to be detected. The virus travels with the spitting saliva amidst laughs and fist bumps among passengers. Our City Dweller and other passengers' contract the disease before they arrive at their virus (pun intended) destinations.

Upon arrival, he interacts with his family like the prodigal lost son coming back to his father. He continues to infect his caring but oblivious family cheerfully. Similar activities are happening in villages across the country. The prodigal sons and daughters lay waste to goats, chicken, rabbits, and cows. The joy is short-lived since jobs are plentiful, and it makes no economic sense to live in the village. Behind, he has left a chain reaction of infections that will result in thousands of contracting Corona Virus and death knocking at each of their doors.

The city dweller returns to Nairobi the following week, 15th July. He gets a new job on the 22nd, and life is better than ever. By the 29th, he has fever and fatigue, which he associates with how hard he's been working. It is 2nd August, and the president gives an assessment speech, but our City Dweller is already in critical condition at the hospital. He watches the address on his hospital/death bed regretting why the cessation was ever lifted in the first place.

The city dweller had no pressing matters in the village, only his animal instincts for freedom. Feeling like a prisoner with Nairobi, the largest jail in Kenya. Finally, the doors were opened, and he took off immediately like a cheetah chasing an antelope. He caught his antelope all right.

The Reserve Dweller

As the day breaks on 8th July, our Reserve Dweller heads to the 2NK matatu stage. For the next two hours, she travels with her eyes wide open with no intention to miss out on observing any changes that have taken place in the last three months. Along the way, she makes numerous phone calls to alert her friends of her comeback. She arrives at Tea Room and moves along the crowded streets. She is wearing her mask, and in her mind, she is safe. Her hands-on the other hand (pun intended), touch city poles, handles, car, people, and doors services that are infected, and before washing her hands, our Reserve Dweller rubs the dust off her eyes.

Hence begins her week-long endeavor of visiting friends and catching up with old acquaintances. Unaware that she is infected and infecting others. On the 15th, she returns home. A week goes by, and she has returned to her normal slow-paced life. 29th July, she has unbearable rib cage pain, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. She is admitted to the hospital also under intensive care.

Reserve dweller watches the president’s assessment speech on 2nd August on her hospital/death bed. Guilt consumes her. Thoughts flood in her mind, not why she traveled but of how many people she has infected.

For the Reserve Dweller, Nairobi, the forbidden fruit has just become attainable. Only a day away and she can breathe again the stench and dusty air that is Nairobi. Her fault, longing for the wrong things. Just as Eve, she succumbed to the forbidden fruit, and now her life flashed past her eyes like Eve's understanding of right or wrong.

Cautious Dweller

Reeling from the news, the Cautious Dweller is coming into terms with the effects of this path. The lock down had been set with less than 50 cases reported in Kenya. Today, there are over 8,000 confirmed Corona Virus cases. There have been 164 deaths due to the virus and more unreported. These irrefutable facts make the Cautious Dweller rethink his stands on his responsibility.

The risk is bound to be higher. Therefore, he reduces his and his family’s movement from home. Anything movement that is neither essential nor necessary will not be taken. He talks to his children and explains there will be no more playing outside with their friends. As a result, he will buy more toys and board games and play with his children more. He can trust his behavior, but he can NEVER trust the behavior of others. He is his family’s keeper.

The Cautious Dweller trusts his intuition. He reduced his movement and restricted his family movement. For one week, he stayed at home with his family. 15th July, he goes to the shop and restocks on suppliers. He had his mask on, hand sanitizer at hand (used every time he touched a surface) and kept social distancing as much as possible.

He purges all social gatherings planned, refuses to attend marriages or burials, and loses friends, and extended family relations. The news reported the following week sends shivers down his spine. The rest of the nation has not taken similar caution. It is devastating. By 29th July, the insane circumstances at home have become the norm. The president’s next speech finds him safe, his family healthy and happy.

Times have changed, and with any change, you change with it, or it changes you. The Cautious Dweller accepted that Corona is real. The virus lives among us and continues to increase its hold on the population.

End of the fictional tale.

If this were Taiwan, Iceland, or New Zealand, I would not have an issue. However, this is Kenya, and we are Kenyans. The risk is real; death has been accelerated a million times by Corona. When questions, most corona victims are asked, "Can you recollect from where you might have gotten infected?" The answer is, "I have no clue."

Remember, Corona Virus is not airborne, but people born. Yes, by all means, treat people like the plague until this plague ends.

Watch the full video on the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMxlzpXqbtk&lc=UgwroTBu7EeXzFKcDmp4AaABAg.9Ap2Gahnyas9Ap3QpidDm_