MP John Kiarie grilled at DCI office over fake coronavirus tweet

Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie has been released from police custody after he was summoned over an alarming tweet on coronavirus.

Also Read: Kenyans spreading false information on coronavirus to be arrested

Reports indicate that the MP was grilled for three hours at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) office in Dagoretti.

This after he posted a message on Twitter claiming that over 7,000 Kenyans were in mandatory quarantine at Lenana School and Kinyanjui Technical Institute.

He becomes the fourth person to be questioned over claims made on coronavirus after Cabinet authorised law enforcers to ensure that those spreading false news are charged.

On Sunday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe rubbished Kiarie’s claim and instead stated that there are 2050 Kenyans currently in mandatory quarantine.

The CS further accused the politician of using the coronavirus pandemic to gain political mileage.

“It is not true, why would you wish as a leader that 7,000 Kenyans be in quarantine? For what gain? Saying that the government is hiding information, for what purpose? It is unethical for one purporting to be a leader to mislead Kenyans for whatever reason,” he said.

Speaking during a press conference at Harambee House on Sunday, CS Kagwe said it is immoral for leaders to spread lies about the pandemic with the aim of painting the government in negative light.

He noted that though it is possible for the coronavirus cases in Kenya to reach that point, this is currently not the case.

CS Kagwe was however categorical that there is no country in the world that has contained the coronavirus entirely at its hospitals and there remains a possibility that Kenyan facilities could  be overwhelmed.

“If the British National Health Service (NHS) have been overrun, isn’t it realistic to imagine that it could happen here. Criticising the government is just adding salt to injury,” he noted.

He urged stakeholders across the counties to identify facilities such as secondary schools within their regions where patients can receive treatment should the existing facilities become inadequate.

As of Sunday, Kenya recorded four more cases of the COVID-19 disease bringing the total to 42.

The four new cases include one Kenyan, an American, a Cameroonian national and another from Burkina Faso.

Three cases are in Nairobi while one is in Mombasa. Efforts to trace 1,426 contacts are ongoing.