Cutting Edge

Posted  Thursday, June 9 2011 at 17:51

UGLIFICATION OF KU. Some of the new buildings that have come up on Kenyatta University’s main campus lack the aesthetic touch for such an institution, says Ken Kimuyu. Unless high standards are set, he says, it will soon be difficult to distinguish the university from the haphazard flats at, say, Kayole estate, Nairobi. “Something is not right. KU is meant to be the place of fresh ideas, and hence the need for unique architectural designs and styles for new buildings that will inspire learning. The planners can do can better,” says Ken, whose contact is kimkivoi@yahoo.com.

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PUNISH CONTRACTOR. A month ago, Willy Murage reports, the contractor building a shopping mall on Airport North Road, Nairobi, “dumped tons of cotton soil” on the road opposite SDV Transami. The road has since become most treacherous whenever rain falls. Willy believes Town Clerk Philip Kisia will intervene and force the culprit to go back there and remove the soil. And it shouldn’t end there. He should be surcharged “for the grave impunity”, urges Willy, who can be reached for details through will.murage@gmail.com.

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IT'S UNFAIR. At KCB’s Kipande House branch in Nairobi, Linus Murithi says he couldn’t help noting that the customers of Western Union, whose service the bank provides, get preferential treatment. While the bank’s customers sweat it out in long queues, their Western Union customers saunter in and are enabled to jump the queue. On enquiring why this is so, he was told that the agreement between the bank and Western Union stipulates that the latter’s customers must never be kept waiting. Could this be true? asks Linus.

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EMPTY PROMISES. Just after the official launch of mobile number portability, Ndung’u wa Karugguh says he was attracted to Airtel because of its pledge of a sweet reward to those joining the network from its competitors and immediately made his move. He adds: “The reward we were promised was 1,000 ‘Zawadi’ points. To date, I have not received any points. But whenever I call customer care, all I get are promises. Was it a promotional gimmick or what?” His number is 0750465906, and he can also be reached at ihiga2000@yahoo.com.

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MOST DANGEROUS ROAD. One of the most dangerous roads to drive on today just has to be the winding stretch with sharp corners along the scenic escarpment just before Maai Mahiu on the Nairobi-Naivasha highway, says Wycliffe Ogweno. A number of lives have been lost in accidents at that spot, since a slight mistake is likely to send a motor vehicle plunging down the valley, says Wycliffe, adding: “I can bet on this one. The government will not do anything until a prominent person is killed there one day!”

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PUT A SMILE ON HER. This man must really love smiles. It’s W. Wahome, who some time back complained that he had never seen pictures or TV footage of human rights activist Muthoni Wanyeki smiling, and wondered whether it had anything to do with the rather depressing issues she has to deal with in her line of duty. Now, Wahome is upset about the “gloomy woman” in the Rexona soap billboards. “Can someone, please, put a smile on the face of Wahu in those Rexona ads using Photoshop or whatever? Or possibly take the pictures afresh.”

Have a cheerful day, won’t you!