The Cutting Edge

By THE WATCHMAN
Posted  Tuesday, May 31 2011 at 17:35

DISASTER-IN-WAITING. This is one Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia should find time to check out, says Jai Hanuman, alarmed at the construction of additional floors on a block of flats at Parklands. “This, to me, is a disaster-in-waiting. The block initially had three storeys (built in the 1970s). The new owners have built an additional four stories on top. Of course, there are no lifts, contrary to city by-laws. Another two storeys are in progress. What cheek! Who and how was this approval given?” For the details, his contact is jaihanuman57@yahoo.com.

--------------------------

MISSING RESULTS. Can the Ministry of Education explain why it has not posted the 2010 KCSE examination results on its website? Kamau Njuguna wants to know. Over four months since the results were released by the Kenya National Examinations Council, Kamau adds, they are conspicuously missing from the ministry’s website. He adds: “It is quite frustrating for parents who would like to monitor the performance of their children’s schools in the national examinations.” His contact is kaumajuguna@yahoo.co.uk.

--------------------------

HELPFUL HAND. A barber at Tea Room, Nairobi, who still remembers with immense gratitude how he was bailed out by a customer, Lee Karuri, when his children had been sent away from school because he couldn’t pay fees, is eager to renew contact with him and share some good news with him. Says he: “When I was attending to him, I told him about my plight and he assisted when one of my children had no school fees. I would now like to inform him that the boy scored an A in the KCSE examination and thank him again.” The barber’s contact is Tel. 0726609851.

--------------------------

SPOILT CHILDREN. The people spoiling university students are their own parents, says G. Gathogo, who heads a department at one of the public universities. He adds: “Watchie, allow me to vent my frustration here. I am concerned at the way parents are babying university students. As you speak with the parents, they refer to the students as children. Parents even go to universities to enquire about the students’ CAT results. Some send their house help to mop the students’ rooms and wash and iron their clothes. You’re failing your own children at university.”

--------------------------

ILLEGAL TAX. Posta is collecting VAT illegally, charges Mungai Kihanya. On May 26, he sent a letter to Mombasa using Posta’s EMS from the GPO, Nairobi, and was charged Sh275.90 plus 16 per cent VAT, a total of Sh320. However, he was not issued with an ETR receipt and he fears that the money might not be remitted to Kenya Revenue Authority. “I demanded to see the supervisor and he told me that their ETR machines broke down many years ago and have never been replaced. Will KRA move in and stop this illegal tax collection?” His contact is mkihanya@yahoo.com.

--------------------------

SHOT IN THE ARM. This appeal could just be time-barred, as Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and his team of advisers and technocrats at the Treasury must by now have already crunched the numbers and figured out where the funds will come from to meet the various expenditures, but a doctor at a public hospital, PO, still hopes that he and his colleagues, who work so hard to deliver services to fellow Kenyans, will get to hear some good news. “We need some goodies as well. The 32,000 bob we earn in a month is too little. Please give as a shot in the arm as we continue giving wananchi shots in their arms.”

Have a hopeful day, won’t you!