Without affordable ugali, should we eat cake?

Mike OwuorThe "polite notices" on some of Nairobi’s restaurants eloquently capture the misery: Hakuna ugali saucer kutoka leo (No extra helping of ugali from today). It is a reflection of the hard times as the price of maize and flour go up, beyond the reach of many. Let’s get this right. We may have failed miserably in other areas like the search for a national dress, but we can at least cling to ugali for a sense of identity (that we admittedly share with a few other countries). Reaping benefitsSome people are known to go all the way to State House just to eat ugali, while others finish mountains of food but still say "I have not eaten" because ugali was not on the menu. So, PointBlank asks, what are we supposed to eat when our staple meal becomes unaffordable? It is even worse that the maize shortage and high prices could be artificial, with a few well-connected individuals reaping benefits. Without putting too fine a point of it, Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Prime Minister Raila Odinga must lead Government efforts to ensure maize is affordable once again. There are no two ways about it.Extortionists are back in businessResidents of Kangemi, Uthiru, Kinoo, Kikuyu, Limuru and other places in between should brace themselves to pay more "taxes", says "a concerned law abiding resident" of Kangemi. Some youths have apparently issued a one-week notice that they will start collecting money for offering "security"."Shops and stalls have been asked to pay Sh100 per month while landlords will pay Sh2,000," he says, adding that the youths appear well-organised and some of them usually meet near a petrol station in Kangemi.Most of the extortionists, he adds, fled rural areas and have rented cheap houses in Kangemi and surrounding estates."Is it possible the police are not aware of these criminal activities? If they are not then they must either be sleeping on the job or colluding with the gangs. Maybe there should be an overhaul of the officers at Kabete Police Station. Security is a right and nobody should live in fear," he says. The Kangemi resident’s worry is that those who refuse to pay the money could be harmed. He now wants Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and Internal Security Minister George Saitoti to give guarantees on security.How about these for silly laws?So Mr YP Bansal thinks we have frivolous by-laws (‘Scrap trivial city laws’, November 21)? He has probably not scoured the Internet as much as Mr Leonard Juma, who has forwarded an article from timesonline.co.uk. In France, for example, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon while in Ohio, US, getting a fish drunk is prohibited. A man in the UK is allowed to urinate in public as long as he holds the vehicle with his right hand and aims for the rear wheel, while in Vermont, US, women need written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth. How about a decree barring daft people from drafting laws?Probe blatant bribe claimsMs Elizabeth Atieno applied for a birth certificate in Kisumu in July but since then, she claims, the Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons officer handling the file has been taking her round in circles. "He claimed I should give him fare to travel to Siaya to forward my application, since that is my district of birth. I gave him Sh300 but he declined to take it, saying that only covered one-way travel expenses," says Atieno, who initially thought the officer’s demands were procedural.But she became suspicious when he claimed that once in Siaya he had to "talk to wakubwa (the bosses)" because hers was a "difficult case". The official claimed that since she was 30 years old, wakubwa needed some convincing to issue the document.Travel document"As I write this, I have not been given the birth certificate. Whenever I ask the officer he tells me it has not been signed. I need the document to apply for a passport because I am supposed to travel early next year," she says.Minister Otieno Kajwang’, who are these wakubwa and why is her birth certificate application taking too long?Ngecha Road as bumpy as ever, Minister Obure On October 2, Ms Lucy Mbugua, a regular user of Ngecha Road, off Lower Kabete Road, Nairobi, wrote to complain of its pathetic state (‘Do they know where bumpy Ngecha Road is?’). She wanted either Town Clerk John Gakuo or Roads Minister Chris Obure to explain who was supposed to repair the road. But on November 6, Gakuo responded that the road was not under the City Council’s jurisdiction, and advised that any enquiries should be directed to the chief engineer (roads). As residents continue to endure the bumpy ride and Minister Obure remains tight-lipped, we ask again today: Are there plans to repair Ngecha Road? Right of ReplyKPLC sheds light on Syokimau imposterAn item in your column (‘Bribery shock in Syokimau’, November 20) had a complaint by someone who was approached to pay a bribe to be connected to electricity in Syokimau Estate, Nairobi. The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has received similar complaints about conmen operating in the area, where we are connecting customers.KPLC does not have an employee by the name "Mohammed" working in Syokimau and the reported individual must be a conman. We would like to advise residents of Syokimau, and elsewhere, to only deal with authorised KPLC staff. They should make payments either in cash or cheque at a KPLC commercial office or appointed cash collecting agencies, which include post offices, selected branches of Uchumi Supermarket and banks.Any person asking for money over and above what KPLC charges to "facilitate" supply of electricity is a thief and should be detained and handed over to the police for prosecution. Migwi Theuri,Deputy Manager,KPLC Corporate Communications. Complaint against APs failed to give all details Our attention has been drawn to your article on November 6 (‘Look out for rogue AP duo’). On verifying the facts, we realised that the origin of the matter was a breach of trust by (name withheld), who is the alleged victim in the story. Apparently, a woman had given him a phone to sell but he failed to give her the money.The APs only intervened and went to arrest the alleged culprit after the woman complained. However, he committed to pay the dues. It is evident from your story that the man and his accomplices want to defeat justice by twisting the facts. We hope the two parties have since settled their dispute and the money, which was the source of the problem, has been paid back. Kinuthia Mbugua, CBS,Administration Police Commandant.Point of OrderTired of ‘come back later’ After retirement, Mr A Teyie (APN 205188) expected to receive his benefits in no more than 60 days. But five months of being shunted between the registry and assessment offices at the Pensions Department have left him frustrated. So, he asks, when should he expect to be paid?

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