Curse of superstitions that education has failed to slay

People in Mt Kenya region laughing their heads off whenever they hear tales of hearses destined for Western Kenya that won’t jolt, allegedly because the departed are ‘too angry to go home’. As dead men have never been known to have the energy  to tell tales, people wonder exactly where they get the strength  to stall vehicles.

But truth be told. No Kenyan  community can claim to have completely detached itself from the machinations of their ‘ancestors’ or is it their ‘dark past”? Last week, the  country was shocked by the decision of a Central Kenya family to bury a calf alive, ostensibly to please the spirits of a dead man and keep his curse at bay.

long time

Well, that is to say the least, barbaric. But try tell that to some of the Kikuyu, who still believe, and some claim to have witnessed, that a curses from beyond the grave are real. No amount of education and especially of the religious type, has  persuaded them to ignore such beliefs. Do such curses work? PointBlank knows not, but it’s clear that fear of the unknown will be with us for a long time.

Why MRC members are mourning   

It appears that members of the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council have found a way of outwitting the police and holding their clandestine meetings right under the officers’ noses, according to Mr Martin Makundi.

He claims the members have been meeting, sometimes for weeks, without raising even a single eyebrow. He alleges that the group meets on the pretext of holding disco-matangas, in informal settlements. Disco-matanga, he explains, is a funeral fund-raiser where “music is played all night and funds are raised by charging dancers and spectators.” He adds: “Ordinarily, the event lasts at most for four days. However, there is one that has now been going on for slightly over a month.”

Tired of the ear-splitting music, residents of an estate neighbouring the settlement recently decided to confront the mourners. Shockingly, however, they came face to face with strangers who  threatened them telling them that  “Kenyans will not dictate to  people of Pwani”.  “The slum dwellers confirmed that a majority of the alleged mourners were strangers to them and they were holding meetings in small groups.”

 

Injustice for ‘peasants’ at Law school

The Kenya School of Law, the institution mandated to turn  lawyers into advocates is being accused of deliberately sidelining the poor from the law profession. This, according to some prospective KSL students, is being done by increasing fees to levels that children from poor backgrounds cannot afford.

The students claim that between 2005 and 2012 the fees payable for the nine-month advocates training programme  has been increased from Sh45,000 to a prohibitive sum of Sh190,000. One is required to pay 70 per cent of this amount before they can be admitted. The students lament that  the amount is too much bearing in mind that HELB does not fund the programme. They argue that  ordinary Kenyan students, who managed to go to university because of HELB’s benevolence, won’t be able to fulfil their dream to become advocates.

tragedy

They want KSL compelled to lower the fees or HELB petitioned to start funding the costly programme. Or has someone taken  seriously the suggestion by a senior advocate who once remarked that, “the tragedy of the legal profession begun when we allowed the sons and daughters of peasants to join.”

 

Hop, step and jump...and hope!  

If you must take a stroll in Kakamega town, you might do yourself some good by avoiding   places such as the path behind  Kakamega Municipal Council toilets and Eldoret Express booking offices — unless of course you want to  travel.

Raw sewage, reports Mr Robert Amalemba, has been flowing from the council’s toilets to the streets occasionally ‘colliding’ with unknowing passers-by staining their shoes and clothes. “It’s a pity to see elderly people staggering, doing hop, step  and jump  mostly when it rains.

“Can the council kindly clear the mess behind its toilet?”pleads Amalemba.

DON’T YOU FORGET

Will Mavoko ever make terminus shoe-friendly?  

On March 23, Mr John Muthusi wrote to PointBlank wondering whether County Council of Mavoko  was justified to continue collecting levy fees from buses and matatus owners at the Mlolongo bus terminus.

Mr Muthusi alleged that for long, the terminus has been dirty and filthy but the council tax collectors never seem to notice.

“You leave your house looking sparkling clean but when you get to the bus stop, your shoes get dusty and filthy. If you are unlucky, you also develop a running nose.” When it rains, he adds, “the mess doubles due to mud”.

Muthusi pleaded with the council to tarmack the terminus to save residents the agony. Will the council ever heed Muthusi’s advice?