A total of 6,000 bars and eateries in Nairobi Metropolitan area will be trained on Covid-19 safety protocols by June in the ongoing Raising the Bar with Tusker program. 

The programme is being jointly conducted by the Ministry of Health, the 47 County Governments and AMREF in partnership with Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL).

The statement comes a week after the Pubs, Entertainment, and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK) said more than 30 per cent of bars and restaurants operating before the pandemic shut down permanently.

AMREF Programs Manager Leenah Kanyangi, who was speaking on the sidelines of a training workshop for owners, operators and employees of bars and eateries in Machakos town.

“Our target is to reach 10,000 outlets across 40 counties, including the Nairobi Metropolitan Area, where the bulk of this work is,” he said.

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Kanyangi added, “Within the Nairobi Metropolis, we target 6,000 outlets by June, and outside Nairobi, we are targeting 4,000 outlets. Of this, we have already reached 2,273 outlets and managed to train about 3,800 people from these outlets."

She said the campaign will provide the outlets with Coronavirus safety material and information for use in their premises to stress to their clients the importance of outlined protocols to ensure their safety.

“We expect that by working closely with partners, within the next four months, we will visit these facilities to ensure that they are adhering to these guidelines to ensure that we are protecting the workers and the clients," she added.

And Ministry of Health Principal Public Officer, Janet Mule said the training will help the establishments, especially as Kenya rides through a third wave and rolls out vaccination to tame the Coronavirus spread.

The training is part of Diageo's Sh11 billion global fund supporting bars and pubs to bounce back after months of disruption caused by the pandemic by adopting measures and practical equipment at work.

PERAK, in its recently released report, noted that the permanently shut establishments represented about 16,000 businesses covering the livelihoods of an estimated 160,000 Kenyans.

The Raising the Bar program seeks to provide a much-needed boost to hospitality stakeholders, which employs more than 40,000 retailers employing more than 300,000 people and benefitting many more.