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The People’s Champion April 21, 2014

April 21st, 2014 2 min read

Inspire confidence

Denis Gachoki was surprised that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure had shifted the goal posts in the anticipated Sh10 billion construction of Outer Ring Road.

Instead of starting the work in April as Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau had promised, Mr Gachoki said the Principal Secretary in the ministry was recently quoted saying they would see if the work can start in August.

“This kind of talk does not inspire confidence in the men and women charged with the work. What is the reason for the delay? Has someone dipped his or her hands into the project’s kitty even before the work begins?” he asked.

Mr Gachoki said he was disappointed because Mr Kamau sold him the dream of jam free commuting but it now seemed impossible.

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Cohesion

Stephen Isiongho was disturbed by the hatred that was evident on many posts on the Internet.

In exercising their freedom of speech when commenting on the ongoing security crackdown, Mr Isiongho urged Kenyans to be tolerant for the sake of national unity. “Dear Kenyans, let’s learn the virtue of tolerance.

If we realise that what we are about to post will divide us further, it will be better to hold it in our hearts,” he said adding, “No outsider will burn this country but ourselves. No foreigner will succeed in dividing us if we don’t give him or her room.”

He wondered what happened to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission charged with checking hate speech among Kenyans. Did its mandate end with the expiry of Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia’s tenure? he asked.

 

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Development

Governor Evans Kidero should drop his pride and learn from his Machakos counterpart Alfred Mutua who was thinking out outside the box and bringing real change to his people, said Wesley Korir.

It would not kill Dr Kidero, he said, to copy Dr Mutua’s less bureaucratic process that is leading to the building of tens of kilometres of tarmac roads in record time and for half the normal cost.

Mr Korir said with such an approach, coupled with Nairobi’s massive financial resources, Dr Kidero would not feel the need to belittle Dr Mutua’s impressive development track record.

“Governor Kidero may have likened Dr Mutua’s development pace to a thunderous drop in a tea cup, but at least he is delivering on his election promises,” said Mr Korir.

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Replicate functions

It was ironical that after ensuring that the cost of building or renting a decent house in Nairobi was out of the reach of most residents through stiff taxation, the County Assembly now wanted to set up a corporation to build cheap houses, said Mercy Onyancha.

And there was no doubt the corporation would be funded by the exorbitant taxes that were now rendering families homeless, she said. “That is tantamount to the Assembly conspiring to make us homeless so that it can play saviour by offering its ‘goodies’,” said Ms Onyancha.

She added Nairobians already had a corporation to enable them become home owners in the form of the Housing Corporation. The Assembly, she said, should therefore stop trying to replicate functions of other organisations.