The cutting edge

By THE WATCHMAN
Posted  Monday, March 28 2011 at 18:12

Japanese our kin? With Japan in the news over the horrendous earthquake and tsunami, X.N. Iraki says he’s intrigued by the possibility of a genetic link with the faraway land. He poses: “Why do we share names with the Japanese? We should investigate if this is coincidental or a sign that we could be genetically related beyond colour and other physical features. They have Chuo University, and common Kenyan names such as Kihara and Kimura. And interestingly, Irakis are common in Japan.”

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This is defeatist. The growing cynicism towards the development of nuclear energy following the Japanese disaster is uncalled for, says Ochieng Ochiel. “No country, no matter how developed, could have prevented the calamity”. He sees the problem in Japan as providing useful lessons to help Kenya plan and boost nuclear disaster preparedness before going full-scale into the programme. “It’s like arguing an airline should not to venture onto a route simply because another was involved in a crash,” Ochieng concludes.

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Faith restored. Sister Joanne Gangloff says she has reconfirmed that there are still some very good people out there. It happened on a Saturday evening at a Nakumatt outlet when she returned to her car, only to realise that she had locked the keys inside. Says she: “I want to say a hearty thanks to the Good Samaritan who helped open my car. Nakumatt employees provided him with the wire and pliers he used. After keeping his son and wife waiting for an hour, he didn’t even want a reward.” Her contact is stelizabethtimau@gmail.com.

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Seething with anger. The recent KCB Rally has left Kanini Musau seething with anger over the littering of the Mathatani/Mua road in her neighbourhood, where some officials had pitched tent. Maanzoni Owners Association, she adds, expects KCB to lead by example “in keeping our environment clean”, and should, therefore, go back and pick up their ribbons and the empty water and soda bottles discarded by the roadside. “We might just decide we don’t need them in our locality again,” says Kanini. Her contact is kanini.musau@gmail.com.

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Road neglected. A resident of Eastlands, Nairobi, Wangui Wachira, believes City Hall is giving their fast-growing neighbourhood a raw deal as far as the allocation of resources for the maintenance of facilities is concerned. She is particularly appalled at the neglect of roads. In a particularly deplorable state, she reports, is the Kayole Spine road that links it to the Koma Rock estate. “The road is almost unusable, especially between the Equity Bank branch and Naivas Supermarket. Please, do something about it.”

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Was raffle a hoax? Was the draw for last year’s Christmas raffle at the Nakumatt Junction, Nairobi, ever held? asks Z. Husseinali. Hoping to win one of the nice prizes, he recalls filling in many coupons. However, three months later, there was been no word on the raffle. He would like to know from the organisers whether this was for real or a sham. “Today, I still see the first prize, a new Hyundai car, and the other prizes still parked at the supermarket. Is there any explanation for this?” he wonders.

Have a rewarding day, won’t you!

E-mail: watchman@nation.co.ke or write to Watchman, POB 49010, Nairobi 00100. Fax 2213946.