Coronavirus and Politics Prt 3

To a normal Kenyan, Covid partly exists but its fangs are not deadly as portrayed because they believe its menacing nature is used as a conduit to siphon money. “To ensure the flow of international monetary help, the government has to keep up the high rate of infections to attract foreign attention which comes with financial goodies” an individual would lament.

In the rural areas, sensitization and awareness are of the essence to help nip at the bud the blatant display of ignorance despite the narrative of corruption that has been passionately adopted. Overlooking this encourages a normal resident not to acknowledge the devastating effects of Covid, terming it as a political strategy to consolidate and squander money at the expense of the citizen.

On the Southern part of Kenya lies a country by the name Tanzania. It is the biggest in terms of landmass in the East African Community (EAC). In the wake of Covid, the Tanzanian government took an orthodox approach in dealing with the virus. Emulating Sweden but in a rather dismissive approach, the late President Dr. John Pombe Maghufuli on numerous occasions stood on podiums and vehemently denied the existence of the virus.

This obviously struck a wrong chord with his peers in the region who viewed his sentiments as reckless and naïve. Embracing the Swedish approach of herd immunity distinguished Tanzania from the rest in Africa, although their perspective seemingly mocked the pandemic’s existence by throwing caution to the wind. Unlike Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda who went the lock-down way, the Tanzanian government encouraged its citizens to continue with life normally.

Some of the residents did not agree with the government’s approach; they felt a sense of neglect and feared they would be victimized by other countries. That did come to pass and on several occasions, their citizens were denied entry to their neighbouring countries. To proceed, they were subjected to mandatory tests to ascertain their status. Those who tried to publicly decry the impunity meted against them by the government that led to a fractious relationship with their neighbours, were met with a non-negotiating entity that suppressed their voices.        

The pandemic generated divergent opinions; politics as observed was at the center of it. In most countries, the scourge and politics were inseparable due to safety of life which is central to any government’s agenda. The flaring up of emotions from different quarters is still common because for any measures to be implemented the current leadership has to enforce them.

When it comes to the safety of any citizen’s life, a country’s leadership has to ensure nothing is left to chance. In most cases, any leadership not exhibiting total commitment to give confidence of safety for the citizens, the opposition, or those responsible for putting checks and balances always sound an alarm. Sometimes the alarm is genuine and for the benefit of the citizens and other times, it is not.

Irrespective of the alarm’s credibility, either way, it can be used politically by whoever raised it to get sympathy or mileage which might help in endearing him/her to the populace. When looking at life from a political perspective, it is like a double-edged sword; for whatever purposes when it is at stake, any leadership should expect it to be politicized.