Governor Mutua halts campaign tours over Covid-19

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has postponed his presidential ''listening tours'' hardly a day after the office of the deputy governor was shut down due to coronavirus.

This comes after another case was reported at the Machakos County Assembly with Speaker Florence Mwangangi testing positive.

Governor Mutua, who had started to popularise his 2022 presidential bid, has so far toured Meru, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nyeri and the Coast regions.

He has, however, stated that he wants to prioritise public safety.

“I have consulted experts on the Covid-19 situation and the cases are getting worse as many people are dying and I have decided to stop campaigns until the situation improves,” Dr Mutua said.

Dr Mutua said his ambition to be the next president will not cloud his judgement regarding the current Covid-19 situation. He said he does not want to put people's lives in danger.

Health protocols

He called upon leaders to be responsible and suspend their public meetings and to lead by example by adhering to Ministry of Health protocols.

“Wananchi mimic how we carry ourselves because they believe we are privy to more information. If we look like there is nothing to worry about, wananchi also follow suit and place themselves in danger. My fellow leaders, greed for power should be tempered,” he said.

At the same time, one junior staff at the office of the Machakos Deputy Governor tested positive for covid-19.
Deputy Governor Francis Maliti said that a cleaner has been isolated while the rest have been ordered to undergo mandatory testing.

“We have around 10 staff who are now working from home as we fumigate the offices, hence a temporary shutdown in our offices,” said Mr Maliti.

He said there was no cause for panic as the situation in his office is under control.