Tales Of Suicides, Murder And Discrimination Over Corona Virus Accusations

By Priscilla Njambi

A week ago, a middle-aged South African lady held forcefully at a COVID -19 quarantine center in Nakuru, Kenya, took her own life. A day before a video of her had sufficed where she had an exchange with a taxi driver who shouted at her accusing her of deliberately spreading Coronavirus to the villagers around Kenya Industrial Training Institute (KITI), Nakurus quarantine center.

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 The cheerful young life was said to be in the jubilant mood until she briefly went to buy necessities that the quarantine facility is not providing. She was met with public ridicule and was dubbed “Mama Corona” and this did not go well with her.

Her death came a few days after a woman from Samburu County in the North-Eastern part of Kenya, committed suicide after her family accused her of exhibiting Coronavirus symptoms. According to a report in the Daily Nation   the lady had been treated for tonsillitis and fever, but her close family members allegedly accused her of contracting the virus, because she had some symptoms similar to those of COVID-19. She left her house around 4 am Friday and her body was found later in the day floating in River Nkare Narok.

In Kwale, a man who had shown symptoms of the corona was lynched by a mob. According to a report by The Standard Newspaper, George Kotini Hezron, 35, a resident of Kibundani area was on Tuesday night accosted by a group of youth while heading home.

The man who was sneezing passed a group of youths seated by the roadside. His sneezing attracted their attention and it was then they wrestled him to the ground. They questioned his sneezing, likening it to that of a coronavirus patient.

As the disease bites home, the stigmatization that comes with the disease that has so far claimed 4 lives in Kenya continues to be a major challenge to people who have jetted into the country.

 “After a long delay at the Jomo Kenyatta International airport waiting to be taken to the designated quarantine centers, The NYS (National Youth Service) buses that picked us from the airport were quite crowded despite the emphasis of social distancing. Little did we know the horror was just about to unfold.” Decries a Kenyan returnee who requested anonymity. “We are being treated like criminals in our own country. One would be forced to believe we have been tested Corona positive already.”

The enforcement of forced quarantine came into place after the government realized the self-quarantine request which relied on the goodwill of individuals was not being complied to. This poses a danger to the public and themselves. 

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A lady who spoke on condition of animosity narrated how she was almost set ablaze by her neighbors at their home in Nakuru after she landed in the country. “I was rescued by the public health officers who came to the house and pulled me out as the villagers came to torch me. I remember telling the Chief of the area that as soon as they train people on how to wash their hands they should teach them how to wash their brains. Stigma will kill people more than the actual disease,” said the source.

Kenyan marathoner Samsom Rutto narrated how he was arrested and forced out of a matatu in Kibunjia after landing from France. “The passengers called the police after overhearing my phone conversations saying I had just landed and I was taken to a quarantine facility,” he added in an interview.

 In March, Dr. Karanja Kibicho, Kenya’s Interior Principal Secretary warned against discriminating Chinese nationalities because of the virus. Appearing before the Parliamentary Health Committee Kibicho warned that such habits will put more than 3,000 Kenyans living in China at risk, if they decide to retaliate. “I want to ask Kenyans to be careful because not all Chinese are sick,” he said.