Covid-19: Police intensify raids on homes hosting parties – VIDEO
Police on Sunday night broke up at least two house parties as dozens of people defied orders to stay at home and away from large groups due to the coronavirus.
As health officials race to control the spread of the Covid-19, police are breaking up more gatherings and parties by reckless Kenyans who ignore social distancing rules.
Kenyans continue to crowd and party with abandon, defying what is now the law and crucial measures by the government to contain the deadly virus.
Some were caught taking alcohol in houses in groups, others in bars while locked inside and others on roads.
Police said the victims will be charged in court for flouting the set regulations.
In Ruaka, several people were arrested after a neighbor called police on them and they were rounded up and bundled into a waiting truck that whisked them away.
Police raid a Ruka home suspected to be hosting a house party several arrested.#COVID19 #KomeshaCorona #StaySafeStayHome pic.twitter.com/vFECXIIe0s
— Hilary Kimuyu (@hilarykimuyu) April 13, 2020
Despite the countrywide closure of non-essential businesses, including clubs, dozens of people have been arrested in police swoops in the past week.
Bans on gatherings are so strict that no more than two or three people are allowed in a 5-seater or a 7-seater vehicle respectively.
Social distancing requires a space of at least 1.5 metres between people.
Police said those arrested will now be taken to forced quarantine for flouting the laid down rules as they pose a danger to the other members of the society.
On Sunday night, police raided another house in Runda and arrested 12 people drinking beer at a private residence-turned-club.
Among the 12 were controversial ‘gospel artiste’ Alex Apoko famously known as Ringtone and taken to Gigiri police station.
Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru Mwangi was among 34 people arrested on Saturday for violating Health Ministry directives to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The MP who has since been released was arrested at Ruai Gardens, an entertainment joint situated along the Eastern Bypass alongside 18 others.
In another raid, 17 residents of Nyayo Estate, Nairobi were arrested at a birthday party hosted by one of the officials of the estate association.
The entire group was forced into a 14-day quarantine after which they will be tested for the novel coronavirus.
On Friday, a city magistrate and a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldier were arrested among 28 others while partying past curfew hours in a pub in Embakassi.
President Uhuru Kenyatta declared a dusk to dawn curfew to stem the spread of the virus, only exempting those who offer critical and essential services.
He then added a stay-at-home order, night curfews, prohibition of movement into and out of the Nairobi Metropolitan Area and Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties.