US President Barack Obama whipped his fellow Democrats to back a healthcare Bill that aims to provide affordable health care to 96 per cent of 47 million uninsured Americans.

 Palaver wonders what became of former Health Minister Charity Ngilu’s crusade for a universal social security and health insurance scheme. Obama is following through on his pre-election pledges on health care reform, world peace and better governance and accountability.

What became of the myriad promises Kenyan voters were bombarded with in Campaign 2007? Or should Moreno-Ocampo fire one of his famed letters to the current holders of the health portfolio?

Love him or hate Luis Moreno-Ocampo, comes from Rio de Janeiro, a city that radiates "unmitigated joy", or so says Forbes.com. Rio tops a list of the world’s happiest cities. The recent survey looked at 50 cities. A close second was Sydney, Australia, that churns out longtime, popular, daytime Neighbours soap aired on KTN. The 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index, did not find Nairobi or Mombasa as enticing, according to data from interviews with 10,000 respondents in 20 countries.

Elsewhere in this edition, we report China’s pledge of $10b loans to Africa. In 2006, China pledged $5 billion of assistance and signed agreements to relieve or cancel the debt of more than 30 African states. Perhaps, Palaver now understands why embattled AG Amos Wako insisted last week that he may not be as keen on boarding a US-bound flight but would rather one to the East. You can’t fault the man’s logic if the Chinese keep their purse strings this loose.

Even as it turns out a prominent lawyer may be linked to the Sh40 million monthly Nairobi heist, French police are looking for the driver of a security van suspected of driving off with more than 10 million euros. The man apparently cleared out his flat and drove into the sunset last Thursday after a three-member crew took delivery of the cash at a branch of the Bank of France in the city of Lyon. He left two of his colleagues in a lurch though.

And finally...

A gem from Buddhism: "You, yourself, must make the effort. The buddhas are only teachers."

—palaver@standardmedia.co.ke