Ruto gives forum wide berth

From its guest list, Monday’s Covid-19 conference promised to be a theatre of sorts. It would have seen Opposition leader Raila Odinga, Deputy President William Ruto and Chief Justice David Maraga share the room, as the country took stock of its six-month Covid-19 fight.

Many were waiting to see the body language between Mr Odinga and Dr Ruto, who have been throwing jabs at each other, and mostly between President Kenyatta and Justice Maraga, who have also been having a frosty relationship. 

However, Dr Ruto skipped the event, leaving the task of inviting President Kenyatta to address the nation to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

No explanation was given for Dr Ruto’s absence, even though the programme listed him as one of the guests. Had he been there, he would have invited Mr Kenyatta to close the ceremony and read his 12th State of the Nation address.

In a show of his changing fortunes, Mr Odinga, together with ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, got panel speaking slots where they shared their thoughts on the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of interest was the panel discussion where Judge Maraga, in the first function with President Kenyatta since he asked the Head of State to dissolve Parliament over failure to pass the gender rule, spoke about how the pandemic has revolutionised court operations.

Covid-19 lessons

Sitting next to Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka, Justice Maraga appeared calm as he presented the Judiciary Covid-19 lessons.

But it was President Kenyatta’s no-nonsense body language, and firm tone as he read the new containment measures, that was the highlight of the day, when he once again spoke about the political class, including himself, leading the masses in breaking the protocol.

Mr Kenyatta opened the conference with a call to provide the nation with a trustworthy account of its Covid-19 measures.

President Kenyatta also said that the country was facing a ‘new normal’ , which can only be defined as a ‘known-unknown’, adding that now the country knows the extent of Covid-19 disruption and the kind of havoc it can wreak.

“… But we do not know how the disease will morph and how the ‘new normal’ will unfold. These remain unknown to us. And if the ‘new normal’ is a ‘known-unknown’, then this must be a questioning conference,” Mr Kenyatta said.

Avoid a catastrophe

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said the country was lucky because its Covid-19 numbers veered off the modelling experts had given, allowing it to avoid a catastrophe.

“We count ourselves lucky. The fact that counties responded quickly and helped us with the containment also helped,” he said.

Mr Kagwe also revealed that the pandemic has seen the country improve its health facilities, having grown its Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed capacity to more than 400 across the country. It has also improved on the number of infectious diseases ICU units from eight in March, with over 7, 000 isolation beds spread across the country.

“Covid-19 has also allowed us to grow out testing capacity from zero in March to now have 38 laboratories spread around 12 counties,” said Mr Kagwe.

Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said the complexities in transition between the financial years saw counties struggle to spend their Covid-19 funds, hence the slow absorption.

Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki, while addressing the use of Covid-19 funds by state agencies indicated that “People will be prosecuted arising from what has happened at Kemsa.”

When the function ended, President Kenyatta left the KICC ballroom in the company of Mr Odinga as they shared niceties.

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