I find Omar Mohamed on the balcony of his house at the heart of Mombasa Old Town. He is perched on a Swahili stool, sipping Kahawa tungu”, a popular beverage in the coastal region made from concentrated coffee. He is donning a  Swahili kikoi synonymous with locals here when I catch up for our scheduled interview.

Mohamed, 45 is among those who were affected when the government imposed lockdowns to contain coronavirus in Old town more than a year ago.

His voice suddenly quivers, his face falling suddenly when I broach the subject of Covid after an exchange of pleasantries. I can tell he is pained recalling the experience that Covid 19 presented.

He recollects the events leading to the lockdown, visibly sad, that he lost close friends and neighbours to Covid 19 owing to the circulation of false information about the disease and testing. 

He however faults the manner a directive for compulsory covid 19 testing for all residents in the town was imposed by the county government and the subsequent lockdown. 

“There was no data that informed the lockdown, those who imposed the measures acted with impunity, it was a punishment to the locals for rejecting the Covid tests, he claims.

Despite collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Health and the County Government of Mombasa to sensitize locals on the importance of the tests which were aimed at containing the Covid spread, the locals remained skeptical.

The result, a cat-and-mouse chase pitting health officials and residents, contributing to increased cases.

“What worsened the situation, is how those concerned handled the matter, they would isolate those found positive without consideration of their economic status, this complicated the situation and contributed to resistance to submit to testing,” he recalls.

Mohamed lost some friends to Covid 19 and says the lack of proper information about Covid 19 gave rise to claims that the disease was none existent, thus promoting apathy. “Residents were misled by the information on social media, he says.

He claims that had the government engaged in proper sensitization it would have helped counter the false claims that were in circulation, saving lives. 

Many old town residents say they were under the illusion that if they took the Covid jab, their brain would be damaged, according to social media claims. Others claimed that the social distancing, especially at the  mosques, was a ploy to eliminate Islam, their religion.

“People were writing all sorts of news and spreading rumours, for us in the Old town we took it seriously. People said if you take a jab you will destroy your nostrils and affect the brain,” said Mohamed.

“I was told that when I get vaccinated I will lose my fertility, there were claims that quarantine would separate families, which is against Muslim culture, and people claimed this would threaten our Muslim faith. As you know Muslims eat together share the same ‘Sinia ya futari; when breaking the fast, and this was discouraged at that time,” Mohamed added.

The Mombasa county public health department says the apathy towards testing and observing protocols was largely driven by fake news.

According to Mombasa county public health department communication director Richard Chacha, suppressing the disease at Old town was a tough task. He said it took the county government months of sensitizing the residents to enable them understand the importance  of protecting themselves..

“What made it difficult to control spread in the old town was first of all a lot of negative stories about testing, some believed that the testing kit would destroy their brains, others felt that it would interfere with their religious beliefs,” said Chacha.

Chacha who was then among the team in the Public health department handling information dissemination said majority of the Muslim faithful mingled owing to their religious practice, especially at the mosques, eating together in groups as they doubted the existence of Covid 19 as informed by unverified sources. 

There was a lot of fake news in the social media, people believed them more than what we told them, this was the biggest challenge,”Chacha adds

According to Chacha, Mombasa is now recording Zero cases of Covid 19, with all protocols having been lifted despite hundreds of thousands of Kenyans flocking the port city for the Christmas and New Year festivities.

“We have no restrictions because we have managed to contain the disease, and counter the disinformation.” Chacha confirmed through a phone interview.

Mohammed says the situation is much better now following increased awareness and sensitization. “Many are lining up to take covid-19 jab because they have seen people die from the disease, the restrictions have been lifted and we will be ready to observe protocols if the disease recurs, because we feel enlightened now,” he concludes.