A very interesting debate has been going on in and outside Parliament. It is about a Bill that seeks to amend the Parties and Elections Acts, which suggests that aspirants for political office must hold university degrees.
Must they? If anyone needs PointBlank’s opinion, the answer is yes. Bunge is an important place, it’s the place where laws that guide our day to day lives are made. The country ought to be peopled by some of the sharpest brains our country can afford. It would be a lie to argue, as some have, that education is not important in this respect.
Poor taxpayers
But every political aspirant must have a second and compulsory degree; a degree of honesty and integrity. This is the most important degree, which most MPs even those with degree certificates, don’t possess. That is why some of them steal public money without an iota of shame. That’s why they brazenly increase their salaries without considering the plight of poor taxpayers. That’s why they accept bribes and support questionable motions. No, a degree of honesty must come before degree certificates.
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Honour Audi’s Toyota accord, Concord
Mr Allan Audi’s car (Toyota Corolla) was involved in a crash last year. Fortunately, he had taken a comprehensive insurance cover with Concord Insurance.
As the car was written off, the insurance firm promised that it would pay Sh370,000 after deducting Sh15,000 ‘excess’.
But Audi says that one year down the line, the company is yet to compensate him.
“I have pursued this payment without success. I can’t even recall the number of trips I have made to Concord offices.” Audi adds that he has reported the matter to IRA and even to his MP Jakoyo Midiwo, “but it seems nothing is forthcoming”.
The company, however at one point, made a commitment that the compensation would be made without fail by June 18. Sadly, the date came and went but the firm is yet to honour its pledge.
What surprises Audi is that his Toyota was later salvaged and sold off in October last year and is back on the road, with a new owner.
Meanwhile, Audi continues to walk to work, recalling the good days he drove his Toyota. Will Concord ever put Audi back on the road?
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Meddlesome middlemen in council?
Members of the National Council of NGOs are unhappy with the conduct of certain individuals at NGOs Board who have for the last three months have allegedly been forcing NGOs to work with people they have not elected, says one of them, Josephine Nekesa.
The individuals, she claims, operate from hotels, temporary offices and cyber cafes and not from NGOs Council offices in Hurlingham, Nairobi.
“It is public knowledge that the NGOs Council elections were stopped by a court order issued on October 25, 2010, pending hearing and determination of High Court Application 559/2010 and therefore no one can claim to have acquired leadership of the NGOs Council through elections in 2011.”
Mandate
Nekesa says the conduct of the employees of the NGOs Board has created a lot of confusion in the NGO sector, hindering the NGO Council from discharging its statutory mandate of regulating NGOs.
“We appeal to the leadership of the NGOs Board to remember that we are in new dispensation and be guided by Public Officers Act of 2007,” says Nekesa. Are these allegations true, NGOs Board?
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Dead, forgotten AP officer
Since 2001, the family of an Administration Police officer (force number P/No 79192230) has been trying to secure his death benefits in vain, according to Mr Guyo Malicha Roba. The officer was reportedly killed by Ethiopian militia in Qiltipe, Moyale district while on official duty.
“His immediate family has been seeking his benefits for 11 years now, nothing seems to be working at the Administration Police officers offices.” Any one who can explain why the late officer’s family has had to suffer for this long can reach Malicha on 0720494386 or e-mail guyomal@yahoo.com.
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DON’T YOU FORGET
Did Olkejuado County Council finally wake up?
Some residents of Ongata Rongai wrote to PointBlank on March 26, claiming that Olkejuado County Council was in deep slumber and had neglected the area. For almost one year now, they said, motorists have had difficulties driving on the busy Magadi Road due to huge potholes, especially on the section around Ongata Rongai town.
The residents also alleged that in its slumber, the council had forgotten to construct culverts at the junctions of Magadi-Sololo and Magadi-Mage roads in Laiser Hill that they said serve schools, churches and a growing population. The residents also asked the council to do something about traffic jams in the town especially in the mornings and evenings and weekends. Did the council wake up from the purported deep slumber?
