The over 175 M-pea agents across the country have offered to be distribution points for the government’s free masks and sanitisers.
This was revealed yesterday by Health Chief Administration Secretary Dr Mercy Mwangangi during Coronavirus (Covid-19) update address to the nation.
“I am pleased to announce that Safaricom has offered to use its more than 175,000 agents to distribute masks and hand sanitisers. We will later appraise on how it will work. We call upon other institutions and corporates to continue lending a helping hand to the fight of the virus,” said Dr Mwangangi.
This comes a time the government has been facing shortage of the commodities, since the pandemic hit most parts of the world.
As a result, Eldoret-based Rivatex East Africa Limited and Kitui County Textile Centre (Kicotec) started mass production of masks to curb the shortage in the country.
Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu said Kicotec has the capacity to make thousands of masks per day.
A fortnight ago, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) released 18 containers of ethanol as directed by the government to manufacture sanitizers to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Following the first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 on March 13, 2020, there has been a looming shortage of hand sanitizers as Kenyans panic shopped.
This led to the hiking of prices hence making it hard for a common citizens to afford the item.
On March 27, Nzioka Waita, the State House Chief of Staff, confirmed that his office had received the sanitizers and were ready for distribution.
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