Mudavadi urges State to act fast over Kenyans frustrated in China cities
Amani National Congress (ANC) Party Leader, Musalia Mudavadi has urged the Government to address the plight of Kenyans living in the diaspora in the wake of the global coronavirus disease pandemic, most especially those in living in China.
Mudavadi condemned what he described as the Chinese Government's discriminatory policies against Africans living in that country saying China should fully observe international covenants it has signed up on foreign nationals.
He said host Governments have both moral and legal duty to secure the rights of people living in their respective countries.
"Very disturbing images have especially come from China. They show the dire distress that Kenyans and other persons of African origin have fallen into.
Despite denials to the contrary, it is evident that the Government of China and her citizens in China have embraced a discriminatory policy of attrition against peoples of African origin.
Some of the images from China smack of undisguised racism," said Mudavadi, in a statement.
He said Chinese government must come clean on this issue, terming the act of rendering people homeless and Mudavadi destitute the very height of inhumanity.
In the wake of this deadly virus, he said foreign countries have sent aircrafts to evacuate their citizens from Kenya and from other African countries.
"Our own government seems to be silent on this. We need to know what plans, if any, our government has to evacuate Kenyans – especially those in hardship circumstances in places like China.
But beyond China, we need to know what is happening to our people wherever they may be away from home throughout the world. This is an imperative that the government must address with all the urgency it deserves," he said.
He raised concern over what he termed as vague explanations and assurances made by both Kenyan and Chinese Governments saying they are not convincing at all.
Even worse for the Kenyan situation, Mudavadi said is the loud silence from the Embassy in Beijing.
"Families that are directly affected need some level of comfort from the
Government. They need to know about their relatives in China and elsewhere.
As a nation, we need to know how many of our fellow Kenyans are out of our country in these harsh times and their circumstances.
While the Government has done well to keep us informed on the coronavirus situation in the country, it must also answer these questions," he added.
Meanwhile, Mudavadi had called for decorum in making charitable contributions for the vulnerable populations.
He termed it as unfortunate and immoral that some sections of the political class are taking advantage of vulnerable poor people in pursuit of selfish political goals.
"We cannot demonize charitable interventions in this difficult season. It is clear some of the interventions we have seen are completely insensitive to the plight of the poor and only seek personal glory.
Apart from dangerous breach of the social distance regulations, we are now seeing obscene circulation of branded items with portraits of politicians and their self-seeking political campaign messages, packaged as assistance to vulnerable populations.
This is beyond both tragedy and insensitivity," regretted Mudavadi.
He commended the government's directive that all such contributions be channeled through the relevant state agencies and urged well wishers to heed to this call.
