Good people of Nairobi and citizens of the great Republic of Kenya what will it take to ensure thousands of you do not become a powerful, irresistible secondary magnet where an explosion has occurred?.
Kenyans have variously been described as hard working, resourceful, welcoming to a fault and would have enough candidates to fit the God Samaritan described in the Good Book.
No number of warnings is heeded at scenes of crime and fatality as uninjured crowds mill around such sites and hamper emergency services personnel responding to tragedy. The unruly crowds often become god-sent cover for criminal elements to slip away unnoticed in order to live and kills another day.
Yes, Kenyans want to soil their hands, shed a tear and help the injured into hospital or even, immediate safety.
However, the fact is many of us lack the training and equipment to give First Aid so when you mill around the firemen’s hosepipes, trample over forensic evidence and hamper the movement of ambulances, there is little to tell you except: Get the hell out of the way!
Granted there are many unemployed people as Kenya, and indeed, the rest of the world reels from the throes of recession, the outgoing government is alive to this fact.
The President’s recent State of the Nation address reassured the world that there are rosier times ahead. At least, there are elaborate plans to build more homes, treat more patients, employ more youth, and educate more future leaders.
We know the depths of despair many Kenyans have sunk. Without a credible health insurance scheme; bloodthirsty council askaris who fail to see the need for itinerant traders eke a living; official and grand theft of State coffers by MPs, parastatal heads and even junior file-pushing clericals officers.
When caught hand-in-till, the fat cats drag the process through the corridors of justice using frivolous applications by wily ambulance chasing lawyers.
Guardian Angel
As it is our disaster management response time still needs some working and equipment needs to be bought. Remember the first people at the Sinai fire tragedy were only armed with bare hands to shift three-tone rocks. Those at the Co-Op Bank explosion also tried puny efforts to dig through a jungle of concrete to reach survivors!
This is very graphic, but let’s keep out of the way of emergency service crews, respect the Building Code, the Rule of Law and instead make donations to life-saving organisations. Or even better, volunteer to St John Ambulance, Red Cross & Red Crescent societies, if you really must be the Guardian Angel to save casualties. Amen.
