BY Allan Wanjiku
Due to the government’s directive on social distancing and
curfew as ways of combatingf Covid 19 pandemic, many families who depend on
casual labour for survival are sleeping hungry, since the middle class can’t
entertain them in their homes.
Some of the parents hawked food, clothing and snacks, a
business that thrives from 7pm the time that government directed the police to
be on the look out to ensure no human being is roaming freely.
A section of the people in Kiharu who have been affected by
the measures in combating the virus, however, have a reason to smile after philanthropist
and Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor
project director Karanja Mburu dispatched food items to his team who in conjunction
with local administrators have been going door to door, NOT TO CAMPAIGN but to
offer food to the less fortunate and at the same time creating awareness of the
dangers of the pandemic to the homesteads.
The exercise started on Thursday April 23 at the areas of
lower Gaturi an arid and semi-arid area of the Constituency where his team was
able to traverse to at least 150 homes donating food and non-food items to the
hungry people.
Many of them told KK online News that they have had to cope
up with hunger sleeping hungry and watching their children cry of hunger thanks
to the unexpected guest who assured them at least meals for a couple of days.
“We did not expect that a stranger would come knocking to
our homes with food donation, we lack words to thank him, we eat faith and
sleep by faith, government can only copy what Mr Wamatangi has done to us and
provide us food, there is no casual labour that we depended on to feed our
family,” Joseph Kamau told journalists.
Mr Wamatangi appealed to government to subside the prices of
essential commodities so that families may purchase food items at cost friendly
prices and also for the well-wishers to use less to purchase more to the less
fortunate.
“Government should lower the prices of food items so that
with little money families can afford several essential commodities and also
those willing to support may buy more with less money, this is the best tax relief
for the poor who do not enjoy the tax loan period offered to small and medium enterprises,’
he said.
The Constituency’s coordinator for the program Mr George
Gathuru Kariuki said they partnered with chiefs and the assistant chiefs because
they know the deserving cases in their respective jurisdiction areas.
“We may not know the people who deserve the relief food, that’s
why we have partnered with the local administrators who are taking us to the
most deserved people’s homes for the donation, we target to assist about 1000
families and we call upon other well-wishers to assist where they can,” he
said.
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