Nairobi County senator, Johnson Sakaja, has proposed a relief bill that will safeguard Kenyans from a myriad of adverse economic effects due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Pandemic Response and Management Bill, 2020, Sakaja proposes that the Ministry for Housing and Labour, with the approval of Parliament, enact measures that cushion both landlords and tenants including exemptions from paying rent, and waiving utility bills. For landlords and homeowners, it proposes a framework for having borrowers enter a contractual agreement which states that they are incapable of servicing their loans/mortgages and that they will resume their monetary obligations once the pandemic is over.

For the employed and their employers, the bill calls on Labour Cabinet Secretary, Simon Chelugai, to endorse a policy which states that employers shall not terminate employment nor shall they cut wages from their employees’ salaries. The bill also proposes that for those with businesses, their trading license fees and land rates be waived.