President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga have been at the Coast in Mombasa since Wednesday last week, where the two leaders have been holding talks on a number of national and political issues. Even though none of the two camps have given details of what the president and the former PM have been deliberating on, sources familiar with the current events reveal night economy, matatu operations, and nationwide rolling-out of vaccines were some of the issues the two leaders discussed.
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One source confides in this publication ODM leader Raila Odinga’s camp has been lobbying for the full opening of the economy, which saw the government allow resumption of public service vehicles to carry full capacity.
Mr. Odinga’s team had also requested the transport ministry to allow matatus travel at night, a call the government will respond to in two weeks. This was confirmed by the Inter-county Bus Owner Association, who announced the start of operations to full capacity.
“The government has done good to the transport sector and we promise to ensure all passengers adhere to the set regulations. We were with various government health officials who gave directions to be followed. We shall adhere to them. We chose to start operating full capacity on Monday since we sought more time to share the guidelines with various transport sector stakeholders,” Inter-county Bus Owners Association chairman Abubakar Twalib said on Sunday after a meeting with state officials.
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On the economy, ODM leadership argued opening up the night economy was a matter of urgency. However, this depended on how fast Kenyans get the vaccine. Opening the night economy means nightclubs and eateries will be operating too.
Speaking yesterday, Raila confirmed his ODM party has petitioned the government to enable Kenyans to operate commercially in order to help the country recover from Covid-19 ruins.
”We have talked to the government to enable its people to operate commercially to help the country recover from the losses,” Mr. Odinga said.
