The Cutting Edge

By THE WATCHMAN Posted Saturday, March 5 2011 at 18:19

GRAVY TRAIN: The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and mobile phone operators have just made a killing from the KCSE exam results inquiries, remarks Thomas Yebei. Working out the arithmetic, he says that with 357,789 candidates having sat last year’s exam, and each inquiry costing Sh20, “whether replied to or not, translates into a cool Sh7,155,780. With the candidates, teachers, relatives and friends texting, and repeats due to failure to get feedback, can the Knec declare how much it earned?”

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RANKING MISCHIEF: Reading mischief in the ranking of schools in the exam is one Andrew Owuor, and it’s for a particularly selfish reason – he feels slighted that his old school didn’t feature among the top performers. Says he: “I’m surprised that despite attaining a mean average of 8.96 points, my alma mater, St Mary’s School, Yala, was not ranked. There is a claim about irregularities but no proof is forthcoming. Does this have anything to do with the decision to upgrade some provincial schools to national status?”

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POOR PLANNING: With all the talk about Vision 2030, Jose Reyes is surprised that this is not being factored into planning, especially in Nairobi, for roads. He reached the conclusion on noticing, to his utter surprise, that the Northern Bypass will be a single road and not two lanes in each direction. “What kind of planning is this? It’s a waste of money and time. Also, seeing the beautiful roads coming up in the city, I wonder if there is any plan to have wider footpaths. For vehicles everything will be fine, but what of pedestrians?”

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SAFE DEAL: The City Council of Nairobi approved the felling and pruning of trees behind the Old Ole Odume serviced apartments and Elite Park to avert a grave danger they posed in the neighbourhood, Town Clerk Philip Kisia confirms, in response to Ben Wamera’s complaint. Disputing Wamera’s claim about the wanton felling of trees on the banks of the Kirichwa Ndogo River, Kisia says an agreement was reached with the management of the Old Ole Odume Apartments to plant 12 new trees to replace those cut down.

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FRAUD CONSPIRACY: Following an incident on Lang’ata Road, Nairobi, Edward Moturi says he is now fully convinced that some traffic police officers are abetting crime for their own gain. On Monday, at 8 p.m., an officer flagged down a matatu heading for Lang’ata from the city centre in a dark place and ordered the passengers out. “In the confusion, the conductor disappeared with our change. I had given him Sh1,000. I can identity the policeman if his bosses are interested,” says Edward. His email is moturi.edward@yahoo.com.

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WILD THREAT: Danger lurks in the bush near the posh homes off Rimpa Road at Ongata Rongai, on Nairobi’s southern outskirts, whose residents include some top government officials, warns AGW, about a pride of lions that have been spotted, lolling in the woods. “One of the animals has often come very close to my house. They possibly live in the nearby valley. A neighbour saw one last Tuesday night. Boda boda motorcycle operators have also reported seeing the lions as early as 8 p.m. Can the KWS, please, do something about it?” she pleads.

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HYPOCRITES EXPOSED: The WikiLeaks expose on the secret American diplomatic cables from Nairobi are unflattering about top Kenya government officials, who excel only in doublespeak, says P. Kamau. He adds: “If the reports are to be believed, our senior officials must all be hypocrites. On the one hand, they will be publicly criticising the United States for allegedly meddling in our internal affairs and, on the other, they will be secretly rushing to snitch on and spilling all the dirty secrets about their own colleagues.”

Have an honest day, won’t you!

Email: watchman@nation.co.ke or mail: The Watchman POB 49010, GPO 00100, Nairobi. Fax 2213946.