By Njoroge Kinuthia
On January 8, The Standard reported the sad story of Stella Limo, a 17-year-old student who took her own life at home in Uasin Gishu County.
The student at the coveted Alliance Girls’ High School never gave any good reasons for committing suicide but in her suicide note emphasised that no students from her former school should attend her funeral.
At least three other students have committed suicide since her death. There seems to be an evil spirit on the prowl preying on students. Pray, why are our children taking their own lives? This is not an easy question but is one whose answer must be sought with speed.
The triggers
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Did Stella’s school environment or even schoolmates, for instance, inadvertently goad her to her early grave? If not, why did she insist that her schoolmates should keep off her funeral? Why did she complain that she lacked many friends?
The concerned schools and the Ministry of Education must probe the triggers of these worrying suicides urgently and take appropriate action.
Long wait for Good Samaritan
Remember the story of the Good Samaritan? If you don’t wait until you are in trouble and you’ll remember it vividly. Yours truly was in some form of trouble on Tuesday night. My jalopy — the kind that needs persuasion to move — suffered a tyre burst along Airport North Road at around 9pm. I thought it would take me only a couple of minutes to fix the spare-wheel. I was wrong. My jack, which had gathered rust due to disuse, wouldn’t jolt. I struggled for 15 long minutes. Nothing worked.
I decided to turn to fellow motorists for help and I remembered the story of the Good Samaritan. I didn’t count, but I flagged down more than 100 motorists and every time I did it only served to give their engines more energy to move on. But just when I was about to give up, one motorist stopped.
Mr Peter Muia not only offered me his jack but also helped me replace the wheel. "God wanted to teach you a lesson," he told me as we parted.
What lesson? I didn’t ask. What I learnt though is that Good Samaritans still exist. But they are few and far apart. The wounded man Jesus talked about counted up to four to get one. I counted more than 100.
Unwanted development in estate
Residents Harambee Estate in Nairobi’s Eastlands are demanding for answers over what they see as City Hall’s deliberate failure to take action against an individual whom they accuse of land grabbing.
Through the Harambee Estate Residents Association (Hera), the residents claim to have on various occasions asked the City Council to repossess the land, which was originally a children’s playground but has been turned into a private school.
Local Government Minister Musalia Mudavadi, they claim, ordered the council to repossess and revert the land to the residents but this has not been done. To rub salt into the wound, the developer has reportedly acquired two bungalows in the estate, brought them down under cover of darkness and intends to put up a highrise building.
original plan
"Can City Hall assure the Harambee residents that this person will not be allowed to put up anything that is contrary to the original plan of the estate?" pleads Hera.
The developer’s ‘industriousness’, they say, is infringing on their basic rights. Will the council ever act on this matter Town Clerk Philip Kisia?
Pubs have ‘police in their armpits’
Someone, Mose Montansuru says, should quickly come to the rescue of residents of Komarock Phase Two. And if what he says is true, ‘Phase Two’ indeed needs urgent help. According to him, the tiny section of the larger Komarock Estate is home to over 21 pubs and wine and spirits outlets which "exhibit a high degree of impunity". "They operate day and night, play music overnight and one is situated next to a school". Besides, some pub owners allegedly brag that they are untouchable as the chief and police "are under their arms". Mr Montansuru, even a drunkard would find it hard to believe your story.
DON’T YOU FORGET
Was increase of public toilet charges justified?
On October 21, Mr G Wanyoike, wrote to PointBlank commending Nairobi Business District Association (NCBDA) and the City Council of Nairobi (CCN) for rehabilitating public toilets in the city.
He noted that the refurbished toilets had given Nairobi a new dignified look. The days of filthy toilets that were used as hide-outs by criminal gangs of street-urchins are long gone, he said.
Wanyoike, however, complained about a decision to increase toilet charges ‘suddenly’ from Sh5 to Sh10, at a time when most Kenyans were hard hit by inflation.
Those who manage the toilets, he said, "should not be allowed to add more ‘miseries to an already miserable lot’."
Was the increment justified, City Council of Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia?
