The Cutting Edge - 3 April 2014

MEDIA BRIEFINGS A WASTE. The media briefings by Cabinet Secretaries are unnecessary in this day and age, says Robert Wanyoike, adding: “That the government feels it needs to keep reminding citizens about its plans and achievements is the surest sign that it is doing very little or nothing at all.” It would have been better, he argues, for the officials to “organise town hall meetings in the counties, where the people get to ask some serious questions. The current monologue is only self-serving.”

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JUBILEE HAS FAILED. During last year’s election campaigns, Jubilee coalition leaders Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto promised to create more jobs for the youth, eliminate corruption, and curb insecurity, recalls Peter Njuguna, adding that they have failed miserably on the three issues. “Millions of young people remain unemployed, there is runaway insecurity and mega-corruption to a scale never seen before. Were we all duped? Maybe we should now consider outsourcing leaders from China.”

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NO RIGHT OF WAY. Whereas ambulances and fire engines deserve to be given the right of way, the same does not apply to cars carrying VIPs such as Cabinet Secretaries or any other government officials, says Mohammed Fazal Hussein. He is, therefore, disappointed to note that police have not bothered to act when some VIPs’ drivers arrogate themselves powers they do not possess. “These people are misusing their positions and should be arrested. Only the President is allowed this privilege.”

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CJ HAUNTED BY DECISION. The continuing transformation of civil rights icon Willy Mutunga into an object of public ridicule is his lowest point in his otherwise illustrious public life during which he served a stint in detention during the single-party dictatorship of yesteryear, says Jim Webo. “The CJ, it seems, will forever be haunted by the Supreme Court decision in which he led his colleagues in discarding 900 pages of Cord’s presidential petition evidence on a technicality. Judging from his latest spirited defence of the verdict, this is one issue that is not going away soon.”

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NOT A SINGLE ATM! As the National Bank basks in glory after bouncing back to profitability, Jacob Otieno advises that it should avoid the temptation to rest on its laurels and do some real work to get even better. Quite urgent, he adds, is a plan to roll out more ATMs to areas where the bank has no presence today. In Nanyuki, where he lives, Jacob moans, there is not a single ATM and so its branch is always congested and the staff not particularly efficient. His contact is [email protected].

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SPEAK UP MUSLIMS! Can the majority devout Muslims who have always believed in religious harmony as a basis for peaceful co-existence come out in full force to denounce the Somalia-based foreign jihadists behind the terrorist attacks in Kenya, in which scores of innocent people, including children, have perished? urges Dave Tumbula. Kenyans, he adds, must, like never before, rally together to resist the plot by the crazed militants to drive a wedge between them on religious grounds. “Let’s help the police to flush out these killers,” he pleads.

Have a harmonious day, won’t you!

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