BY NJOROGE KINUTHIA
Time to think big after London’s golden error
Team GB flying high. Team Kenya flying low. That was an introductory item on BBC World Service news yesterday morning, after Kenyans suffered a humiliating defeat in men’s 1500m.
While Kenya was mourning Great Britain was celebrating its 20th gold, flying high and gloating about it.
Well, it is not over until the fat lady sings. PointBlank is still hopeful that Rudisha will rudisha smiles on our faces. But, seriously, something is amiss with Team Kenya. Our Beijing glory appears to have gone with the wind in London. What could the problem be?
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Whatever it is, we need to go back to the drawing board and give impetus our athletics. But even as we do that, we need to think about diversifying our participation. Surely, running is not the only sport we can excel in. We are ‘natural’ in many activities. Take discus for instance.All of us throw stones once in a while when angry. We are good boxers too. MP Mike Mbuvi once even boxed a stone wall. Any good reason why we can’t bag gold in these sports? None!
How to end Mombasa Road carnage
At least three things should be done to reduce the high incidence of crashes along Mombasa Road (Nairobi to Machakos), according to Mr Titus Muendo. A daily commuter on the highway, Muendo says there is need to erect road signs at all black spots on the road.
Secondly, he notes that while matatu drivers are not innocent, “truck drivers are the worst violators of the Highway Code” and police need to focus more on them. “Instead of traffic police checks on matatus and endless bribe-taking, police should spend their energy dealing with the truck drivers.”
Finally he suggests that the Kenya National Highways Authority consider putting up rumble strips at Sabaki just before Mombasa Cement, before and after the Athi River and Mto Mawe bridges.
