Fear of a Covid-19 spread has gripped Uasin Gishu County following reports of a group of ward representatives failing to self quarantine after arriving in Kenya from the United Arab Emirates.
The Uasin Gishu County Assembly was on the receiving end for the better part of Monday for handling the matter in a casual way.
Speaker David Kiplagat, however, told locals that the ward representatives observed government directives not to interact with the public.
According to Mr Kiplagat, eight ward representatives jetted into the country on March 8 and quarantined themselves until March 21.
“They have been given a clean bill of health and can interact with the public,” Mr Kiplagat said.
He added that seven other ward representatives landed on March 15 and that their quarantine would end on March 30.
“They have not shown any signs of the disease,” Mr Kiplagat added by phone.
“I urge the public to check any information on the leaders with the office of the clerk and avoid blowing up the issue.”
Locals, however, said some ward representatives were still interacting with the public freely.
“Our MCA had been moving around. Please let us know if he is in self-quarantine so that we keep distance,” Mr Charles Korir, a resident of Racecourse estate said.
Others demanded to see the list of the ward representatives who travelled to Dubai.
“The assembly should come clean. Who are these MCAs that were in self-quarantine?” Mr Emmanuel Kirwa, a Langas resident, demanded to know.
Governor Jackson Mandago has also raised concern that some locals who flew back to Uasin Gishu from corona-ravaged countries have yet to self-quarantine.
“If you arrived from a country where Covid-19 has been reported, take the responsibility to quarantine yourself. If we don’t take these measures seriously, we should prepare for the worst,” Mr Mandago said.
He praised Uasin Gishu residents for working with his administration in identifying people not following directives from the Ministry of Health in combating the spread of the virus.
The devolved government plans mass fumigation should the situation demand.
The government says it will take action on anyone who does not observe the orders issued to contain the rapidly spreading Covid-19.