UHURU’S REMARKS ON CURFEW RESTRICTIONS SPELL HOPE.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s remarks on  lifting curfew restrictions ignited a beam of hope among Kenyans.
Speaking during the unveiling of a new warehouse at the Kenya Railways Transit Cargo shed on Wednesday, February 10, Uhuru hinted at lifting the nationwide curfew.

“Ata tukifungua, mtakuwa na utaratibu mwema? Tujue lazima tujitunze na tutunze wenzetu, haswa wale wazee,”

(If we lift the curfew, will you behave? We must take care of ourselves and reduce the risk of infecting the elderly)

A police officer carrying out a security operation.FILE

The news was warmly welcomed by netizens who called on Uhuru to act swiftly on his words.

“Finally some better news!

“Uhuru should lift this curfew bana. 12 hours economy na hizi tax and debts hatuwezi make it. We want a 24hrs economy, tunaumia.

“Kindly wait till Valentine’s is past. Or after the men’s conference,” read some of the comments by netizens.

President Uhuru imposed strict measures on Kenyans in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the measures included the nationwide curfew which runs from 10 pm to 4 am. Previously, the curfew period kicked off at 11 p.m. until 4 a.m.
Stiffer measures such as restriction of movement within counties affected by the virus, closure of schools, bars and restaurants impacted the country in what was seemingly referred to as the new normal.

As many predicted, the economy of the country bore the brunt of it all as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 5.7 percent due to many businesses collapsing and thousands of Kenyans losing their jobs.

For instance, a report by the World Bank in November 2020 titled Kenya Economic Update: Navigating the Pandemic revealed that more than 2 million Kenyans were rendered jobless due to the pandemic.

The government, in its efforts to cushion Kenyans from the hard times introduced tax reliefs. This saw the normal tax rates paid by every taxpayer reduced in order to further lessen the economic crisis.

However, as the Covid-19 positivity rate drastically dropped, the state  relieved some of the measures . From resumption of schools in January to lesser restrictions for bars and restaurants. However, in a bid to bounce back from the economic crisis, the tax reliefs were dropped effective January 1, 2021.

Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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