The cutting edge

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By  THE WATCHMAN 
Posted  Saturday, December 31  2011 at  15:46

ACADEMIC VANTAGE: In his own self-styled analysis of the just-released Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination results, Kenneth Karumba says there is an apparent pattern or a clear link between hills and academic glory. “It seems studying on higher ground contributes to success in examinations. The schools in the hills of, for instance, Gilgil and Nandi, and Kirinyaga and Meru, which are close to Mt Kenya, did much better in the exam than their counterparts in the lower altitude areas of the coast.” His contact is kamaukarumba@gmail.com.

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RIP-OFF PLOT: Quite frustrating year in year out is the difficulty in accessing the results from the Kenya National Examinations Council’s SMS short code 5052, says David Kipkorir. “The short code is always overwhelmed, as the candidates, parents and guardians try to find out how their children fared in the exam. He is accusing the council of turning a blind eye to the problem and that he now suspects a plot to rip off those seeking the results, as they try many times and fail to gain access. “Why can’t we have more short codes?” asks David, whose contact is u2kip@yahoo.com

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FLIP FLOPS: Kenyans love behaving like a pendulum, moving to and fro, remarks X.N. Iraki, adding: “We had a Senate at independence, which we abolished and now are to restore. We used to have majimbo; they are back as counties. We used to rank schools in exam results, we stopped and are back to it. We used to have a prime minister. The position was abolished, re-introduced and will be abolished again. We can go on with the list of flip flops. Why can’t we be consistent? Consistency is good for long-term economic and political stability.”

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RECKLESS DRIVER: On December 28, while driving from Eldoret to Nairobi, Douglas Kivoi says he didn’t like the antics of an Easy Coach Bus Company driver “who kept on overtaking dangerously and literally pushing other motorists, especially drivers of saloon cars, off the road”. It would be in the company’s interest, he adds, to investigate the driver’s risky conduct. Douglas watched the Easy Coach driver’s misbehaviour on the road from Timboroa all the way to Naivasha. For the details, he can be reached on Tel 0733658407 or amatalo2000@yahoo.com.

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POWER OUTAGE: Residents of Nairobi’s Kileleshwa and Riverside Drive deserve an apology from Kenya Power over power outages, declares Mary Njitilo. On December 17, “as has become the norm on Saturdays for the past one month, electricity went off at 9am, as advertised but was not restored at 5pm, as had been indicated, but at 10.10pm”. And that was not all. They had another power failure from 1am until 11.10am on Sunday, which had not been announced. On Christmas Day, power went off at 10.30pm and was not restored until 1pm on December 26, without prior notice. Her contact is marynjitilo@yahoo.com.

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AIRTEL HOAX: After being informed that he had won a year’s Airtel credit at Nakumatt a few days ago, Shamim Ali was advised to keep his phone on for 48 hours, apparently so that his winning could be transferred to his line. Quite excited about his lucky moment, Shamim followed the instruction to the letter. But with not a word from Airtel, he now suspects that this could have been a hoax, but he can’t believe they could have gone to the extent of publishing his picture. Can Airtel clear the air? urges Shamim, whose contact is shamym2000@yahoo.com.

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DEPENDENCY SYNDROME: While agreeing with Geoffrey Odhiambo that dogs are being needlessly killed on the highways by motorists, Tom Osanjo is disgusted with his view on how the problem can be solved. “Complaining about the many dogs he has seen killed, he appealed to the authorities to intervene and end the menace. While I agree with him that we should take greater care on our roads, I do not believe the authorities should intervene. This ‘ningependa kuomba serikali’ syndrome must end. I do not see why the government should protect the dogs.” His contact is tomosanjo@yahoo.com.
Have a Happy New Year’s Day, won’t you!

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