The Cutting Edge

Kairu Kamuri laments that the Ministry of State for Planning and National Development and Vision 2030 has not paid some of its National Census officials after a job well done. “How come the ministry entrusted with planning is complaining that some of the officials were not budgeted for, yet its mandate is to plan, and this includes projecting manpower needs? Can we trust it with long-term planning projects like Vision 2030, if it cannot plan well in the short term?”

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Let’s give credit where it’s due, says an elated Martin Rogena. It follows his recent visit to Immigration Department in Nairobi. He adds: “At passport renewal, no queues, less than three days to get the 48-page machine-readable passport, digital photography, SMS tracking for status updates, and a wonderful waiting room with a 72-inch Sony Bravia TV! Compared to my last visit five years ago, this is great. Why can’t Minister Otieno Kajwang’ keep his Mercedes?”

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Y. Wambui is fascinated to hear about how the minister for the Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands, Mohamed Elmi, is driven in an ordinary Toyota, while some of his colleagues are fighting to keep their gas-guzzlers. Says she: “He is the kind of leader who deserves front-page coverage. Maybe if we steadfastly ignore the greedy and corrupt politicians, their egos will take a hit, forcing them to start crying for attention.”

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The Indian Constitution runs to 88 pages, the Chinese one is 36 pages, that of the US is 20 pages, and our draft constitution, 196 pages, notes X.N. Iraki, adding: “Clearly, there are things that ought not to be in the document! Consider the number of pages and the population of India or China. Our draft tries to make everyone happy. It may end up making everyone unhappy. We hope that once the debate on the draft is over, no more pages will be added.”

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Christopher Black has been using a Telkom CDMA line on the family tariff, calling all preferred numbers for Sh1 a minute. So, he recently bought an Orange line, hoping to enjoy the same facility on a GSM phone. However, after going through a tedious process of signing up, he found that he was still being charged exorbitant rates for the calls. “If they can’t give the service, they should stop advertising it,” says Black, whose email is chrisblack@mail.co.uk.

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A resident of Mathare North, Area III, Samtex Muli, says that with the dust having settled on the changes at police headquarters in Vigilance House, which brought Mathew Iteere to the helm, the wayward fellows in uniform are back at what they do best: extortion. “They patrol at night but only to collect money from bar-owners and pool table operators. At every bar, the owner goes out to ‘see’ them, and after a handshake, they move on!”

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The recent cholera outbreak in Nairobi slums is easy to explain, remarks Dr M. S. Ndakalu. Some unscrupulous operators have lately been transporting water using exhauster trucks instead of water bowsers. He has had a good look at some and swears that though they have been repainted, one can still easily read the word, exhauster. “At this rate, only God can save Nairobians!” he laments.

Have a healthy day, won’t you!

E-mail: watchman@nation.co.ke or write to Watchman, POB 49010, Nairobi 00100. Faxes 214531, 213846.