Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina wants all landlords in the country compelled to suspend rent collection for three months to allow Kenyans to stay at home amid the COVID-19 outbreak, this he says will enable Kenyans work from home without worrying whether or not they will have a roof over their head.
Economists are already projecting a grim outlook if the virus issue persists and by virtue of being opinion-makers in the country, politicians are already setting the tone on the best way to help Kenyans come through the outbreak in one piece.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission had asked the government to declare a state of emergency before quickly recanting that statement and suggesting that the government should deploy the military and the National Youth Service (NYS) to fumigate neighbourhoods and Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) regularly.
On that front, Nairobi County seems to have been thinking along the same lines with the commission and the county will begin fumigating the Central Business District (CBD) and its environs to limit the spread of the disease on Wednesday.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader proposed a raft of measures which he says will cushion the public at a time the economy is expected to take a beating from the effects of the virus.
Murkomen wants banks to slash their rates on loans to allow Kenyans regroup. He also wants the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to release VAT refunds to allow for similar reasons.
The vocal senator also wants the taxman to issue tax breaks to companies that have been hit hard over lack of import flow due to the ongoing situation in China.
“Let us think about the 14.9 million Juakali artisans in the country who cannot afford to stay at home or work from home, and even if they do – at the end of the day, they must interact with the end-user, to be able to sell their products,” Murkomen said while contributing to proceedings at the Senate on Tuesday.
The legislator also wants menial workers who earn daily wages compensated to allow them to navigate the COVID-19 waters as long as the storm lasts.
Murkomen’s proposals were fronted on the same day that the Central Bank rolled out additional measures to help stop the spread of the virus.
The monetary policy regulator in addition to an announcement made on Monday that saw Safaricom zero-rate transactions on M-Pesa below Ksh1,000 ,announced that there would be no charges on mobile transactions of the same amount across all networks.
Conversely, the regulator also announced an increase in the transaction limit for mobile money is increased to Ksh150,000 as well as the daily limit for mobile money transactions which was adjusted up to Ksh300,000.
The mobile money wallet limit was also increased to Ksh300,000 while the monthly total limit for mobile money transactions was eliminated.
Charges for transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts have also been dispensed with for the 90 day period.
Leave a comment