On 28^th April 2021, KEPSA through its Health Sector Board – the Kenya Healthcare Federation donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the County Government of Mombasa. Mombasa County was the third beneficiary of the Ksh. 5 million worth of PPEs to three selected counties namely Mombasa, Kajiado and Machakos.

The PPEs are a donation by Dr. Manu Chandaria through the Covid-19 fund to KEPSA as a response to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

KEPSA has rolled out a number of initiatives in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to highlight the importance of the partnership between the private and public sectors in Kenya. A 24-hour call center and a Covid-19 information portal were launched to aid business owners to get responses on business and health matters for their workers, to strengthen their supply chains, business initiatives, and economic mitigation. The ‘Wheels for Life’ initiative was also established as a programme ensuring pregnant women are able to call the toll-free line- 1196 to talk to a doctor or get free emergency transport during curfew hours to a suitable health facility for safe baby deliveries.

In his remarks during the handover, the KEPSA Tourism Sector Lead Mr. Mohammed Hersi highlighted the progress made in the fight against Covid-19 while pointing out that all the PPEs are manufactured locally as opposed to when the country used to import almost 70% of the PPEs hence. This, he said, had tremendously reduced the cost and made PPEs accessible. Mr. Hersi also said that currently, the country has the capacity to even export PPEs to the rest of the world. “It is our intention and commitment to keep facilitating and sustaining businesses and ensuring a conducive environment for the business community.” He added.

“We are committed to partner with both the county and the national governments together with other stakeholders in the fight against the pandemic.” Said Ms. Martha Cheruto, KEPSA Deputy CEO. “We reaffirm our commitment to continuously engage with the government in efforts to support our businesses right from the SMEs to large corporates.” She added.

While receiving the PPE Donation at his office, the Governor of Mombasa County H.E Hassan Ali Joho thanked KEPSA and commended the good work KEPSA was doing towards mitigating the Covid-19 pandemic. Governor Joho also acknowledged the need for more sensitization on the Covid-19 guidelines to curb the growing laxity among Kenyans.

KEPSA through Sustainable Inclusive Business is also implementing COAST Project (Creating Opportunities and Alleviating Poverty Through Sustainable Trade) in Mombasa County that was launched in July 2020 with an aim to create awareness on waste management and increase the participants’ capacity to develop business cases through mentorship.