Coronavirus lockdown: Kah Walla says North West, South West may be at advantage

Stand up for Cameroon leader, Kah Walla has highlighted the economic impacts Cameroon is set to face as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Encouraging those in the crisis hit North West and South Cameroon regions, Kah Walla said they may actually have an advantage, owing to the fact that they had been self isolating already. “It is not so strange for you people as it is for some of us from the other regions. Please keep up your good habits” she went on.

Notwithstanding, “in many of the conflict zones, water is a problem, electricity is a problem. Please do what you can to get water, to get electricity. You can also use bleach if you don’t have a sure water source … To make the water usable” she recommended.

Regarding the economic impact, the politician noted that it will not only be at the national level, but internationally too. “The growth rate for Africa which was supposed to be at about 3.8 has already been an even sum, analysts were saying 4.2. It has already been cut down to 1.8 already. It is important to note that we have not yet hit the high point of the crisis in Africa” she said.

In Douala for instance, Kah Walla says the impact was felt by taxi drivers immediately the children stopped going to school. Shops and markets too she says are selling less.

However, “unfortunately our government does not seem to be managing that economic impact yet. They have not had any meetings with the private sector, they have not tried to measure the impact of this on the economy and they have not come up with any accompanying measures” says Kah Walla.

Stand up for Cameroon she explains is very focused on this economic impact “and we will post again the speeches we have already given and the recommendations to government and we will continue to advocate very strongly for government to do a very accurate in depth economic analysis and come up with measures to accompany this crisis.”

Failure to take quick action she goes further, will see the state face greater issues in the future. “It’s a very important aspect we must take into account because we may get over the health crisis only to begin a very deep economic crisis.”

The Stand up for Cameroon movement also carried out sensitisation regarding the Coronavirus outbreak, encouraging citizens to stay home.

Among the key items discussed in the forum were the causes which include fever, headache, and runny nose, and the need to call emergency numbers in case of symptoms.

On the necessity to stay indoors, Kah Walla said the aim is to not get infected by the virus. “To prevent infection, the most important things is to wash your hands. Wash your hands with soap and water so that you can get rid of any virus you may have touched inadvertently” she said.

This she says, will be effective when you don’t wash in the same container as other people. “Don’t put water in a bucket and then the first person comes and washes in the bucket, the second person too comes and washes in that bucket and so on, no. Use running water” she advises, adding that it is necessary to wash up to the level or the wrists.

MMI