The senate
on Tuesday contacted a special sitting to deliberate on a number of measures to
help the country fight coronavirus pandemic.
Senate
speaker Ken Lusaka said that a sum of Kshs.200 million will be yielded from its
budget to aid the government curb the spread of the virus.
“As you are
aware, a number of measures have been taken by various levels of government and
state officers in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, as senate we
will be joining hands to curb the virus spread,” said Speaker Lusaka.
The move was
reached at the meeting of the Senate Business Committee held on Monday.
“The
Committee resolved that the senate shall yield a sum of Kshs.200 million from
our budget allocation in the current Financial Year 2019/2020 to aid the
government in combating the pandemic,” said Lusaka.
During the
special sitting, senate majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen commended the
government and health officers for their efforts in curbing the spread of the
virus, since it was first reported in the country.
He said the senate
will formulate a raft of measures to aid the against COVID-19, including the
formation of an ad hoc committee to aid in implementation of possible measures.
The majority
leader said the senate will implement directives by the government that will
see into the continuous supply of food and basic needs to vulnerable groups
during this epidemic.