The cutting edge

By THE WATCHMAN
Posted Monday, March 14 2011 at 19:06

Immigration spoilsports. For over 30 years, Dick Knight and his wife have had an interesting partnership. Whereas he is Kenyan, his wife has all along been British. However, she has now decided to also become a Kenyan, the only obstacle being the Immigration Department. On May 6 last year, Dick sent a registered letter to the Director of Immigration. He didn’t hear from him and sent a reminder for which there has been no reply. Isn’t this an indication of the contempt with which our civil servants treat us?” His contact is sablerdk@gmail.com.

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Build us a road. The road from Githunguri Town to Uplands shopping centre is in a total mess, moans Peter Robe, adding: “A journey of less than 30 minutes now takes more than an hour because vehicles are slowed down by the many potholes.” Peter urges the Kenya Roads Board to liaise with the Githunguri and Lari MPs to repair the road, which is a key link between the Nairobi-Naivasha highway at Uplands and Thika superhighway at Ruiru. The last time repairs were carried out was way back in 1997.

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It’s raw deal. Since last December, Nairobi resident Robert Muriithi says he has been given a raw deal by Telkom Orange, which has failed to restore service on his landline, Tel. 2718056, in the Upper Hill area. Despite being assigned a reference, No. N/0111/39838, the line is still out of order. He has been pestering the firm’s customer care service with numerous calls and emails, but all he gets are promises. “Watchie, please, ask them to restore my line,” urges the customer, whose contact is Robert.Muriithi@ke.ey.com

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Lawyers suffering. The law firm of Kamotho Maiyo & Mbatia Advocates in Nairobi has been greatly inconvenienced by Telkom Orange because their landlines Nos. 2711087/97/61/57, remain out of order three months since they reported the breakdown. As a result, their clients cannot reach them and new ones, who try to call them get frustrated and look elsewhere. Lawrence Henry Ruhiu says they continue to lose business, but all Telkom staff give them are promises that remain just that. His contact is lawretracy@gmail.com.

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High impunity. A resident of Eagle Plains estate off Mombasa Road, Nairobi, Isaac Awinyo, says the rather posh residential area has no proper access road. What they have been using, the murram road through the Industrial Area connecting to the new Mombasa Road-Enterprise Road link, has since been blocked by contractors dumping black cotton soil excavated from construction sites. This, to Isaac, is the height of impunity. “Can Town Clerk Philip Kisia please intervene to end our suffering?” His contact is isaacawinyo@googlemail.com

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Where are toilets? The long queues at the Kenya Revenue Authority headquarters in Times Tower, Nairobi are not the only inconvenience suffered by those who must go there for services, says Wanja Ngunjiri. “There are simply no amenities for customers. There is no water, no public toilets and no seats. I spent six hours queuing on February 4 in the banking call and was insulted by a guard when I sat on the staircase. I felt dehumanised like a slave in my own country. Are they happy to treat their countrymen and women like this?” Her contact is wanjangunjiri@gmail.com.

Have a hospitable day, won’t you!

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