Garissa’s stand on teachers not good for development

There was an interesting story in The Standard on Tuesday . An education forum in Garissa was told that students there do not like to pursue a teaching career.

The teaching profession, it was revealed, is regarded lowly by the community due to frequent strikes over pay and most parents discourage children from becoming teachers. Women are usually hesitant to accept marriage proposals from teachers because of their poor pay.

PointBlank almost came to the conclusion that ‘Garissaians’ were a wealthy, principled and respectful people but a story the next day changed all that. Some Garissa secondary school students had attacked their principal for setting “frustrating, hard exams”.

PREDICTION

Garissa teachers must be a very disrespected lot indeed. But how can students respect teachers when parents advise them to shun their profession? What’ll happen in Garissa is not hard to predict. Education  will go to the dogs, if it hasn’t already (remember the KCSE results protests?) and development will, inevitably, follow. That might teach them that teachers are not morons.

Residents fed up with free music

Residents of Police Line estate in Kabarnet town no longer have a good night’s sleep, thanks to loud music played at Kirandich Restaurant in the estate.

The restaurant, says S Kandie, is just across the gate of Kabarnet Police Station. He wonders whether the police are ever bothered by the noise as they have never taken action.

The National Environment Management Authority also appears to be deaf to the sweet music, which he says is not music at all in the ears of the residents. He can be reached at [e-mail].

And from Westlands, Nairobi, Dr D Shah reports that a DJ at the VIP Plaza keeps the entire neighbourhood fully entertained at night with the latest hits in town.

Shah, who claims to be writing on his own behalf and on behalf of the other sleep deprived neighbours, asks the Velvet Lounge to invest in good acoustics to help confine the noise, sorry music, within their premises.

 “Go ahead and entertain your clients but also be mindful of others around you!” advises Shah who can be reached at [e-mail].

Dissatisfied with certification charges

Sifu Mkangi is accusing Kenyatta University’s examinations department of punishing former students who want to have their transcripts and certificates certified.

The university, he reveals, charges Sh200 per certificate or transcript, which he deems to be on the higher side.

Mkangi says this is expensive especially for those applying for jobs that require many copies of academic documents.

“University jobs, for example, require ten copies of certified documents (both transcripts and certificates). So is one required to pay Sh4000?”

He adds: “I find this charges not fair because the documents are a marketing tool for our beloved university. How can I encourage someone to join the university when such not-so-friendly charges are levied?”

He is pleading with the institution’s administration to do away with the charges “since they might ‘de-market’ our very good university”.

How about certifying certificates for free, Prof Olive Mugenda, Vice-Chancellor Kenyatta University? Mkangi may be contacted via email at [e-mail].

DON’T YOU FORGET

Did Karatina clear the mounds soiling its name?      

On August 16, Mr Kariuki Muiri wrote to PointBlank from Karatina complaining that the town was in a sorry state. He was especially concerned about some huge mounds of soil that he said were dumped on the street off Kanisa Road about two years ago by a developer but no one has ever bothered to clear them. Muiri further said that Karatina Town Council was little bothered by the eyesore either. He wondered how a council worth its salt can accept to lose revenue (in terms of parking fees) for two years without doing anything about it.

“Residents who have had to put up with this nonsense for over two years now know that the offending developer is taking advantage of the fact that he is a relative of an influential politician,” he alleged.  Did the council finally remove the eye-sore?

‘GOtv goes after that extra penny’

GOtv has got some explaining to do here. After paying his monthly subscription of Sh599 via M-Pesa, Mr Motari David says that GOtv usually charges a transaction fee of Sh20, which is quite in order. But he has a problem with the confirmation text that they  send, which “still eats into one’s airtime thus double-charging for the same service”. “Isn’t this confirmation text meant to be free of charge?” he asks. MultiChoice Kenya, he says, needs to explain this to clear the air “lest we think it is a ploy to rob their loyal customers and  make a kill in the process.”  Well, MultiChoice, you’ve got no choice but explain this.

Right of Reply

Strong winds blew away power from Utawala estate

John Kahi wrote regarding a power outage at Utawala on Monday night, which he reported at 8am on September 25.

 The outage was caused by twisted conductors on the power line serving the area near Ruai, following strong winds.

The twisted conductors were identified following patrol on the line and supply normalised at 5.30pm after repairs to the damaged conductors.

 The issue of service is taken seriously at Kenya Power, which is evident from the ongoing work to reinforce and upgrade the distribution network to stem outages and improve quality of supply, under the Energy Sector Recovery Project and Kenya Expanded Electricity Project.

 At Ruai, a new sub-station is coming up and literally speaking bringing power closer to the people, including at Utawala. With a power source close by, power lines serving customers’ premises will be shorter and hence less prone to interruptions and the quality of power will be better.

Migwi Theuri,

Kenya Power

Point of Order

More Safaricom M-Pesa sub-agents’ sub woes

If Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore doesn’t already know this, Gilbert Kaunda would like to inform him that some agents do sell M-Pesa lines to prospective sub-agents at a cost of Sh50000.

 He bought one such line and is now a proud M-Pesa sub-agent. However he isn’t a very happy man. As he is not an “aggregated” sub-agent, Kaunda gets his commission through the agent.

Trouble is, some agents, like his, do not always pay their sub-agents. Kaunda is yet to be paid his commission for June and August 2012.

Several visits and email to Safaricom House and have not helped to solve the problem, he says. He can be contacted on 0722924910.

Another sub-agent, Eddah Mwihaki, who claims to have bought her line at Sh40,000 is also in despair. Her line was closed on June 12 without any prior communication although she suspects her administrator. Mwihaki says the M-Pesa was a source of income for her sister who has now been rendered jobless.

“The agent doesn’t care to respond to our calls or even sms’s. He knows the reason why the line was closed because he had been lying to me that he would change the name of the business, which he never did and that’s why it was closed.”

She wants Safaricom to intervene. Her contact is 0721246548.