Coronavirus: Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi to be charged for failing to self-quarantine

Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi is set to be charged in court for defying a government directive to self quarantine after he returned to the country from a trip to Germany.

The government had earlier ordered that any person entering the country from a destination with confirmed cases of coronavirus should proceed on self quarantine.

It would however emerge that Saburi ignored the precautionary measure and went ahead to attend several weddings and funerals.

The deputy governor is also understood to have mingled with county staff in complete disregard of the government directive aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

In a press briefing on Sunday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe indicated that the deputy governor has already been placed under forced quarantine, and would be arraigned after the 14-day quarantine period.

He noted that the National Emergency Response Committee has decided that all persons who violate the self-quarantine requirement will be forcefully quarantined for a full period of 14 days at their cost, and thereafter arrested and charged under the Public Health Act.

“This will apply to a senior government official in Kilifi who defied and refused to self-quarantine and who is now being forcibly quarantined in a facility. Upon completion of the period given by our health aunthorities, the official will be charged in a court of law,” said Kagwe.