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Sonko ‘banned’ from distributing foodstuff during pandemic period


Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been banned from distributing food to the needy living in slums.

Sonko, through the Sonko Rescue Team, has been distributing foodstuffs, sanitizers and face masks to people living in different parts of the City-County.

But now the governor says his humanitarian actions have been halted.

“We also wish to notify the general public we have been banned from distributing foodstuffs to the needy until further notice,” said Sonko.

However, Sonko did not mention who made the orders.

On March 13, 2020, when the first coronavirus case was reported in Kenya, the government banned all public gatherings.

Human rights groups have been calling on the government to direct its focus on Kenyans living in the slums as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

The organization is demanding that the government offers alternative means of survival to casual labourers.

Nairobi alone has more than five informal settlements, including Kibera, Mathare, sections of Dandora, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, and Mukuru Kwa Reuben.

A 2014 UN-Habitat report put the number of Kenya’s urban population living in slums at 56 percent.