A Covid-Era Discussion: Mobility of the Informal Sector, Fiscal Legitimacy and the Fiscal Contract in Kenya

By Attiya Waris and Mwaniki Maina, December 2020 We may share the same sun, but we do not share the same roofs. —Kalenjin proverb (Kenyan) Covid and the Kenyan response on movement East Africa has known her fair share of calamity in the recent past. This includes floods, droughts, diseases and recently the desert locust invasion which ravaged parts of Kenya’s maize-producing counties – Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu. Against this backdrop, Kenya has been grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic, having negatively affected the global economy, took its toll on the Kenyan population, though not recording as many Covid-related deaths as the United States and Europe. As at 24 November 2020, Kenya had a total of 77,785 positive Covid-19 cases since the first case was announced on 12 March 2020. Out of these, 51,903 recoveries were recorded and 1,392 people lost their lives to the virus. The government announced its first case of the virus through a press briefing held by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe, and has since taken many diverse measures as will be discussed below. As the opening proverb states, we are sharing the same problem – that of a pandemic – but how each household manages it varies based on their particular circumstances: we need governments who are cognisant of our roofs as well as the sun. The Kenyan government’s response to the pandemic was to impose lockdown measures restricting movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Mandera counties as well as a curfew from 7pm to 4am. While these were eased gradually as the numbers of new infections decreased, the effects are still being felt among the population. Although this curfew has since been reduced to 10pm to 5am, and then 9pm to 5pm. However, these diverse changes on the restriction of movement have meant that the population are more and more relaxing their behaviour and the streets of the cities look much like they did in the pre-Covid era. Key among those affected are inf