6 October 2008
column
Nairobi — Even with the change of name to Nairobi International Fair, the show remains a pale shadow of what it was over a decade ago, says Cyrus Njagi, who went there the other day and found "a poorly organised event with many dirty unoccupied stands".
He adds: "I don't see why they call it an 'international fair'. Imagine paying Sh200 and having to queue for a long time because of disorganisation."
According to him, there is nothing to see at the fair, "only ice cream and sausage sellers littering the grounds".
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Nairobi Metropolitan Development minister Mutula Kilonzo's dreams of transforming the city into a great metropolis are okay, but J. Gaita wishes he could first work hard on the ground.
And to Gaita, what needs to be done is pretty simple. "Fix the numerous dilapidated feeder roads and others, such as the now non-existent Athumani Kipanga Road, which used to connect Eastleigh to Pangani. Repair this road, and the permanent traffic jam in the area will simply vanish."
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Kenyans are stuck in perpetual poverty because "we're inherently cosmetic in approach to the real issues", says Mark Evans Ondari.
The 8-4-4 education system, for example, was designed to equip learners with technical skills, especially school dropouts, "but the technocrats gorged out all the vocational subjects. It's now an empty shell that's neither helping the dropouts nor focused enough for the 21st century."
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Quite amazing, notes X.N. Iraki, is the regionalisation of Christian names.
"Wycliffe is a western Kenya name, Ephantus, Mt Kenya, Pamela, Lake region, Truphena and Truphosa, around the same region. Lena is an Eastern name, so is Anastasia. The names become even more localised when you hear the natives pronounce them.
"However, only a few Kenyans borrow names across ethnic groups despite the beauties, particularly from Masailand, such Tolonka, Naserian, Sigona, Seur and Seno."
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While travelling from Meru to Nairobi recently, Kenfrey Mutuma came across a police roadblock, with notices, reading, 'Stop Police Check' and 'Accident Ahead" and was gripped by empathy for the victims.
But on further scrutiny, he noted that there had been no accident and Mutuma simply can't understand the callous mindset of such officers. "Or is it that they don't have enough signposts or sign writers to cater for different scenarios?" he wonders.
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It's all very good for the public universities to expand their programmes and open centres away from their main campuses, but shouldn't they ensure that the conditions in those outposts are up to standard?
Well, keen to gain Moi University qualifications, SO called at their Kitale centre, which he found to be no better than an average high school. "And it is not only dilapidated, but also suffers from acute water and power shortages," he says.
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John Kariuki says Western researchers blamed malaria for the high HIV cases among Africans, "but said nothing about Asia, which also has a high incidence of the disease".
He adds: "Now, they're saying that circumcision is the solution. Even without research, it's obvious that having sex with an infected person is the easiest way of contracting and spreading the virus. Why can't our leaders preach that we drop our 'Ndogo ndogo culture' and dangerous practices such as wife inheritance instead?"
Have a curable day, won't you!
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