The Cutting Edge

By THE WATCHMAN Posted Sunday, February 27 2011 at 18:55

STRANGE PROPOSAL. Education Assistant minister Kilemi Mwiria’s call for the scrapping of the parallel degree programmes in public universities has not gone down very well with Eva Muthuni. Says she: “He seems to imply that the students in these programmes either failed their exams or are from rich families, which is not entirely true. There are many who scored Grade B and above in the KCSE exam but were locked out in university admissions. And let’s face it, the universities’ budgets heavily rely on these fee paying students.”

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COSTLY DELAY. Can Moi University explain to former student Isaac Sila why he does not have his degree certificate nearly four months after the 2010 graduation ceremony? Isaac says the excitement about his academic achievement has given way to frustration. “I have missed several job chances due to lack of my degree certificate when my competitors from other universities have theirs! Moi should learn from Kenyatta University, which issues certificates 10 days after graduation.” His contact is isaacsila@yahoo.com.

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WASTEFUL BEAUTIFICATION. What Michael S. finds quite intriguing is the continuing beautification of roundabouts, especially on Uhuru Highway, Nairobi, as they are earmarked for removal in the envisaged development of overpasses and bypasses. “Why is so much money being spent on them? It really looks like a case of lack of planning or someone is taking us for a ride. Also questionable is the digging up of roads and pavements every two weeks to lay cables. Can’t the City Council properly co-ordinate these developments?”

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PROMPT ACTION. The streetlights on Kitengela Road at Lang’ata and adjacent estates in Nairobi, which David Jasondu complained were out of order have since been repaired and the lights restored, says Town Clerk Philip Kisia. Thanking Jasondu for bringing the issue to the council’s attention, Kisia reports that all the lamps are now in good working condition. However, he is now appealing to the residents to report any such faults to the council’s Electrical Section on Tel. 0202096766 so that they can be similarly fixed.

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FALSE PROMISE. Four months since he applied for electricity and paying the requisite charges to the KPLC, Chris Thairu says nothing has happened and this despite several follow-ups at their offices. “Every time I call on them, I’m tossed from one office to another and given empty promises. My wife and I expect a baby in a month’s time. And with time running out before our bundle of joy arrives, the KPLC, whose service charter says power connection takes a week, seems to be taking forever.” The reference is No. E21112010040779.

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TANTRUMS SHAME. Following his recent public display of deep anger, Uhuru Kenyatta must, if he still hopes to ascend to the highest office in the land, choose competent political, economic, and communication advisers to polish up his image, says Njoroge Wachai. And the first thing they should do, he adds, is to repair the damage from the table banging incident. “They ought to counsel him to learn to keep his emotions in check. Kenyans don’t want a leader who throws tantrums when challenged by rivals,” Njoroge concludes.

Have a cool day, won’t you!