The Association of Muggers, Pickpockets and Thugs (AMPiT) has strongly opposed the 8 pm to 5 am curfew that has been imposed by the government in Kenya, saying that their nature of business was not put into consideration and that the move would not benefit the country in containing Covid-19 spread.
Speaking in a hastily convened Press Conference that was held at 3 am at the Country Bus Station, the group argued that there would be no tangible benefits from the curfew in containing the spread of Corona Virus disease since research had shown that most transmissions occurred during the day.
“The move is counterproductive and does not help the situation since people are known to gather during the day, not during the night,” said the organization’s head of strategy Musa Oduor. “If the government is keen about the spread of the Virus, they should instead have a dawn to dusk curfew.”
Members of the public interviewed said that although the argument made sense, there was something terribly wrong with it. “It is true that transmission of the disease is likely to occur during the day, but I feel like there is more than meets the eye when thugs bring such a suggestion,” said one trader at the market.
The umbrella body also said that their business would be severely impacted by the decision, without going into details on how that would happen. “This curfew will affect our members economically, and we fear that some of them might go into crime. We do not want to get into that situation.”
They urged Members of Parliament who are their strategic partners to reach out to the executive in order to reverse the ill-informed decision.
