US-Based Kenyan Chef Who Traveled to Kenya to Save His Land from Grabbing Narrates His Ordeal in Isolation in Nairobi as a Result of the Cornonavirus Pandemic

Last month, Francis Mwai Njoroge embarked on a trip to Kenya from the United States after learning that part of his parcel of land had been hived off.

Njoroge, a chef based in Kansas City, took a three-week leave from work as he thought the period was enough to fly to Kenya and sought out the dispute involving his three-and-a-half-acre property in Kiarutara, near Thika.

“When I left Kansas City in the United States of America, I expected to be back in three weeks. My estimation was that this time was sufficient to sort out the land dispute and be back to my work as a cook,” says Njoroge.

“I was thoroughly screened and tested at Kansas. When we reached London, all passengers in the plane were made to sign forms that they would self-quarantine.”  

He landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) aboard a British Airways flight from London on March 23rd. On arrival, Njoroge and other passengers were informed that the government had ordered that all people arriving from abroad must undertake a mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated facilities at their own cost over the coronavirus disease.

Njoroge and other passengers protested this directive and after a three-hour hiatus at JKIA, officials allowed them to go home but on condition that they report to Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Nairobi at 11 am the following day for Covid-19 testing. 

Oblivious of what was awaiting him at KMTC, Njoroge arrived at the institution in a t-shirt and carried some cash in case they would be asked to pay for the tests.

“I was shocked to learn that I could not leave the place as I was now under mandatory quarantine. I resisted, insisting that I did not have the money to pay. But I was promised that I would be taken to a government facility where I would not pay anything,” Njoroge, who spent the night at his house in Umoja, Nairobi tells The Standard.
  
Njoroge, 57, was also barred from returning to the house to pick his medicine for high blood pressure and clothes. He was moved to Kenya School of Government in Lower Kabete for quarantine. The next day, he phoned his brother Patrick Njoroge requesting him to bring him his drugs and other personal effects.

“I have been tested several times. During my stay, four people at the facility who tested positive were whisked to hospital for treatment,” Njoroge says.

He has been staying in a self-contained room at the school, and is forced to do laundry and cleaning by himself as other people are barred from accessing the room.

“I am supposed to pay Sh28,000 for the 14 days I have spent so far. I am penniless and have to rely on my relatives to send me money even for credit,” Njoroge laments.

To make the matter worse, Njoroge will not be able to travel to Murang’a to solve the land dispute after he is released from the quarantine facility.  This is after the government banned the movement of people in and out of Nairobi for 21 days as part of the measures to stem the spread of Covid-19.

In addition, he cannot fly back to the US since the government has banned all international passenger flights. “I had requested permission for three weeks. I was scheduled to return to the US on April 26th. This may be a tall order given that Kenya has banned international flights,” Njoroge says.