The cutting edge

Filthy footbridges. Those unhappy that pedestrians in Nairobi and other towns have been shunning footbridges over busy roads should go and see the mess up there, then they will understand why, says Janet Kui. Janet, bragging that she owns a BMW, and would thus never go herself, adds that she has been reliably informed about it by those who have tried and were terribly disappointed. “Drunks and some idiots urinate and do worse things on the bridges. Somebody had better clean up if we hope to see more people use them,” says Janet, whose contact is kui.janet@yahoo.com.

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Customer care. After shopping at Tuskys supermarket’s Kisii outlet, A.H. Musa forgot to pick up his bag, which he had left with an attendant in the luggage-deposit cubicle at the entrance. He only realised this 30 minutes later and returned to the market, but the attendant declined to give it back to him and referred him to the customer care desk. To his utter shock, he was asked to pay Sh200. Though he paid, Musa thinks this was an unfair and wrong way to treat a regular customer. His contact is Tel 0787299030.

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Unpaid claims. The National Social Security Fund that some people have been praising is not the one  Kevin Kamau is familiar with. The one he knows is notorious for dragging its feet on processing claims. Kevin’s mother died in September 2005, and since then, he has tried in vain to get her NSSF contributions paid to him despite furnishing them with all the details. His survivor’s benefit claim is No 300998813 and his contact, Tel 0705 959451.

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Strange charges. Safaricom has lately been blatantly ripping off its customers, claims Charles Omondi, adding that CEO Bob Collymore may be justified in wanting to see huge profits, but the company risks losing its big support. On April 12, Charles bought Sh500 airtime, but after forwarding Sh100 airtime to a colleague, Sh1.40 was deducted. Another Sh91.73, he claims, was debited for a call lasting 50 seconds, and a day later, he was charged Sh2.94 for an aborted call. He will be only too willing to provide more details if reached on Tel 0722641555.

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Shilling value. The time has come for the Central Bank of Kenya to seriously consider introducing a higher denomination note than the Sh1,000 available today, says Dr Mahendra Adalja. The justification, he adds, can be seen in the fact that Sh10 in 1965 was worth more than Sh1,000 today. In those days, when the shilling was stronger, Mahendra goes on, a litre of petrol cost Sh1, and the price of a pint of milk – 539m – just over half a litre was only 30 cents. His contact is mahendramedicaf@yahoo.co.uk.

Have a sizeable day, won’t you!