Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi arrested for defying quarantine order

Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi arrested for defying quarantine order

Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi has been arrested moments after leaving the Coast General Hospital where he was under mandatory quarantine.

Saburi was forced into quarantine after testing positive for the virus days after he returned from a trip to Berlin.

Detectives had pitched camp outside the hospital for the better part of Friday morning waiting to pounce on him once he was discharged.

A video of his arrest shared on Friday afternoon showed plain-clothed police officers donning face masks leading him out of the hospital lobby.

He was cleared to leave the isolation centre on Thursday with the CS Mutahi Kagwe saying he had recovered from the coronavirus.

During a press conference on Thursday, CS Kagwe noted that however, the deputy governor would be arraigned in court for disregarding the directive to go into self-quarantine.

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

In the meantime, Kenya has announced an additional 29 cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of infected persons to 110.

Two patients have also died from coronavirus- one in Nairobi and one in Mombasa- bringing the total number of deaths in the country to three.

The recovery of the Kilifi County Deputy Governor now brings the number of recoveries to 4

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories