Monday July 6, 2020
President Uhuru Kenyatta has lifted the cessation of movement in Nairobi Metropolitan Area, Mombasa and Mandera counties from Tuesday, June 7, 2020.
However, the President has extended the nationwide curfew currently in place between 9 pm and 5 am by another 30 days.
"By re-opening Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera, we are more at risk than we were when the restrictions were in place," he said during an address on Monday.
We must, therefore, exercise cautious optimism, and avoid reckless abandon. I believe that, although the path to recovery is rocky and uneven, it is navigable. And this is why I must give two qualifications to the phased re-opening."
Uhuru who gave the order to re-open conditionally, said that should the situation deteriorate and pose a challenge the health infrastructure, it shall be ‘clawed back’.
"In the next 21 days, we shall study patterns of interactions and the spread of the disease. Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to the lock-down at zero-option," he said.
He said the order will only bear fruit, if we exercise shared responsibility.
"My intention is to re-open and to remain open. The ‘claw back’ option is not on my wish list at all," he added.
Uhuru has previously hinted at lifting the restrictions imposed since March. However, on Saturday, he warned of worse times ahead for the country.
The president urged Kenyans to delay non essential travel to upcountry.
Uhuru has previously hinted at lifting the restrictions imposed since March. However, on Saturday, he warned of worse times ahead for the country.
On June 29, the President told a forum on US-Africa trade convened by the Corporate Council on Africa that the government would lift the inter-county lockdown in a couple of days.
Once the lockdown would be lifted, Uhuru had said, the government would allow domestic flights.
“We are going to be starting the domestic flights and this is what we will use as a trial in the next couple of days. We are opening the inter-county lockdown," Uhuru said during the virtual forum.
The country risks more infections and deaths if restrictions are lifted in totality.