23 July 2008
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Nairobi — How come no bank has seen the great potential in the sprawling Kangemi shopping centre in Nairobi? Paul Tikima asks. With the area being home to numerous small-scale businesses and hordes of bankable people, he adds, he would have expected banks to establish even an ATM facility. "This whole area has not a single ATM. Why is this so?"
Why banks ban customers from using their mobile phones in their banking halls while their own staff do is something B. Kimani says he has never quite understood. Now that several banks have been roped into Safaricom's popular M-Pesa money transfer service which relies on the use of mobile phones, Kimani wonders how clients will transact business without them.
The matatu menace is back in full force, says Dr Asif Gulam of Mombasa, who wishes the Ministry of Transport and traffic police could get out of their deep slumber before something really bad happens. "The indiscipline on our roads poses a real danger to other road users," he says singling out the Tudor matatu stage as one of the most notorious areas. "Matatus shamelessly hold up traffic by blocking the entire road to drop off or pick up passengers."
The ban on cigarette smoking in public because of the grave health risks it poses ironically smacks of hypocrisy, remarks David Kilonzi. "The same can be said of many other products and yet their consumption has not been outlawed. Red meat has been linked to cancer, eggs, have high cholesterol, leading to high blood pressure. The popular nyama choma causes gout and obesity. Why isn't there any mention of these products being banned, too?"
There is a dirty building in Thika Town which is not doing any good to the image of its major tenant, the KCB branch, says Tom Onyango. The bank, he adds, should get its landlord to at least repaint the walls. Ironically, the building is adjacent to the offices of the local municipal council whose obligation it is to ensure cleanliness and set public health standards. Tom wants the bank to help the council spruce up the town for the benefit of its residents, businesses and other organisations.
Pastor Joseph Wandera is concerned about the accuracy of weighing machines in post offices, having got two different readings for the same parcel at two different branches in Nairobi. He went to Tom Mboya Post Office to post a parcel to Saudi Arabia. The lady at the counter weighed it and asked for Sh1,430. He decided to try out the GPO where he was charged Sh450. "Why the huge difference?" asks the pastor, whose contact is Tel 0711336071.
Where else in the world would you expect to find people queuing daily from as early as 7am, eager to pay their bills as happens at Nairobi's Electricity House? asks Tony Kago. "Just like the banks, KPLC should make it easy for customers to pay their bills by opening its doors for the early birds," he says, adding: "They must realise that the 24-hour economy is already here with us."Have an early day, won't you!
E-mail: watchman@nation.co.ke or write to Watchman, POB 49010, Nairobi 00100. Faxes 214531, 213946.
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