The Cutting Edge - 11 March 2014

PHOTO/FILE Travellers from Mombasa collect their luggage after a two-day journey to Kisumu on January 7, 2014. Bus owners on Wednesday got a reprieve after the High Court agreed to listen to their case fighting night-travel ban.

What you need to know:

  • The easiest way to decongest Nairobi is to increase the Sh300 daily parking fee and introduce tolls on the traffic jam-prone roads, Lawrence Kagwi says.
  • Where are the reliable lawyers that small-scale business people and small-time landlords can use to get their defaulting clients and tenants to pay up? asks a terribly frustrated Kate Kariuki.

EXAM GRADING FLAWED. Even as he congratulates the candidates who excelled in last year’s KCSE exam, Howard Akimala has misgivings about the grading system, which he believes is flawed. “I am not convinced that today’s candidates are sharper than those of yesteryear. In my days, in the 1990s, As and First Class honours degrees were rare. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Could the Knec and universities be losing the plot?” His contact is [email protected].

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MPS WONT PLAY BALL. President Kenyatta is in for a shock if he thinks that his symbolic gesture of accepting a 20 per cent pay cut to demonstrate his concern over the ballooning public wage bill will be embraced by MPs, notes Barre Sheto, writing from Mandera Town. Barre says he will not be surprised if the MPs instead write to SRC boss Sarah Serem asking that the saving from the reduction in the salaries of the President and his deputy be paid out to them because they “work the hardest”.

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NIGHT BAN HURTING. Bearing the brunt of the night bus travel ban are ordinary Kenyans, says Damaris Vaati. A friend, she recalls, recently left Mombasa for Kisumu at 6am. By 9pm, they had reached Ahero township which is just about 30 kilometres from Kisumu, but had to sleep on the bus at the local police station. “Is the plight of the poor people, who cannot afford to buy their own cars or hire taxis, ever considered when such decisions are made by the authorities?” Damaris asks.

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RAISE PARKING FEE FURTHER. The easiest way to decongest Nairobi is to increase the Sh300 daily parking fee and introduce tolls on the traffic jam-prone roads, Lawrence Kagwi says. “Motorists will avoid using such roads or just leave their cars at home. This is how many of the great well-planned cities of the world were able to manage their urbanisation challenges and are today enjoying the full benefits. I know of a city in Europe where no single private or public service vehicle is allowed into the central business district on Mondays and Fridays.”

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RECONNECT OUR WATER. When the residents of Ndemi Lane reported a leakage in their neighbourhood to the Nairobi Water Company, they did not know that their gesture of civic responsibility would come to haunt them, says Berhe Mulgheta. Instead of fixing the problem, technicians disconnected their water supply. That was six weeks ago, and since then, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. “But the irony is that our compound is flooded, yet our taps remain dry.” The reference number is 2SF140221R1 and his contact, [email protected].

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CALLING HONEST LAWYERS! Where are the reliable lawyers that small-scale business people and small-time landlords can use to get their defaulting clients and tenants to pay up? asks a terribly frustrated Kate Kariuki. Without going into the details or naming names, Kate says, many lawyers are quite unreliable and dishonest. “Imagine a landlord hires a lawyer in a case against a tenant, seeking eviction and he is bribed by the accused. This is a crazy Kenya we are living in!”

Have an honest day, won’t you!

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