On Thursday, March 26, Kaikai, a panellist on News Gang, alongside Yvonne Okwara, Joe Ageyo, Francis Gachuri and Jamila Mohamed, stated that Jack Ma’s philanthropic initiative was enough to trigger Kenyans to start donating to each other in the fight against Coronavirus.
Jack Ma, via Twitter, by his organisation, Jack Ma Foundation, on Monday, March 16, announced that each African country would receive 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical protective suits and face shields. President Uhuru Kenyatta received donations meant for Kenya on Tuesday, March 24.
From left: Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma at State House in July 2017
PSCU
“This is our reality fellow citizens. Coronavirus has already robbed us of our normalcy and is busy complicating lives now and ahead. There has been a myriad of suggestions on how to ride the Covid-19 wave and at least come out alive. My suggestions are based on two aspects, compassion and leadership. Those are at the core of our humanity. Compassion because Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma did not need to know our names or have friends in Kenya to send donations full of medical kits, testing gadgets, face masks, protective clothing
“The spirit of Jack Ma must ignite our own compassion and spur Kenyans to acts of mass kindness like we see in times of hunger, tragedies, and when we donate blood. If he can touch Kenyan lives while he is millions of kilometres away from Kenya, then we can be each other’s Jack Ma and make donations here and there,” Kaikai pleaded.
The presenter further lauded Kenyans for stepping up to assist each other, as witnessed after tragedies have occurred in the nation before. He appreciated their concerted efforts in donating blood or money through pay bill numbers, insisting that during such moments, one had to search deeper within their hearts and give their all.
“Coronavirus like witnessed in Italy and Spain is able to cause mayhem in the history of mankind. When our existence as humans is under threat, then we do not have anything to lose in this fight when we give our all,” Kaikai stated.
On leadership, he heaped praise on President Uhuru Kenyatta, for issuing directives that would help Kenyans survive, as the economy faces a threat. Kenyatta reduced taxes and suspended Credit Reference Bureau listing, and also took an 80 per cent salary pay cut. However, Kaikai called for more measures that are familiar with the common citizen.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta must not be in doubt. This is the most trying time of his presidency. This is unchartered territory for the president and his government. But such are the times when true leadership is tried and tested. The fiscal and task measures are a welcoming relief. But they have to be prepared to give a helping hand to the millions of the population living outside the formal frame of the national economy. The millions that are unemployed
“They do undocumented jobs. They do not speak vocabularies such as Income Tax and VAT and do not have access to loans. Such relief can come in simple ways like access to water to clean their hands,” Kaikai urged.
Kenyans online for a number of days, pointed fingers Kenya’s richest individuals, wondering why they had not emulated Jack Ma. The netizens argued that the wealthy people should come to the aid of other Kenyans struggling to put food on the table as the crisis deepened. They also urged them to donate medical equipment.
Video: Citizen TV
