Pray, what should we do with all these windfalls?

Pray, what should we do with all these windfalls?

Usually, when small-minded people hit the jackpot, it heralds more trouble in their lives.  They splurge it, buying this and that, going here and there and, in the end, they die—forlorn, penniless, whining paupers.

Kenya has just hit the jackpot, not once but twice. We have   oil in Turkana, which Tullow Oil says could start flowing as soon as in a year’s time. Oil means money, big money.

Then down south in Kwale County, we have this mineral with a strange name. They call it niobium. There is also talk of ‘rare earths’ right there in Kwale. Those in the know say these earthly rare earths could be worth Sh51.2 trillion. If you can’t make head or tail of this figure, remember Kenya’s budget this year, the highest ever, was ‘only’ Sh1.6 trillion. With Sh51.2 trillion we can fund similar budgets for 32 good years!

 But before you burst into celebration, the Government needs to tell us what our share from these rare earths and oil deals is. Again, the Government needs to tell us how it intends to spend the money. We need to plan for the jackpot well ahead to avoid regrets in future.

Bidco oil ‘that turned into fat’

Mr Makokha John has a big bone to pick with Bidco, the manufacturers of Golden Fry, Bahari, among other popular products.

Recently, he bought a three  litre jerrican of his favourite Bahari cooking oil. Incredibly,  after a month, he claims  the ‘oil’ solidified into fat.

 “So I was left with this fat in the jerrican, which has a narrow opening and no way of scooping the fat. I still have it,” he says.

Then, in early June, his good neighbour advised him to go for Golden Fry oil and yet again he went for a three-litre jerrican.

By mid-July, the oil again turned into fat. 

He would like Bidco to explain the enigma.  At the moment, he wants  ideas on how to he can get out the fat from those jerricans. He may be reached via  [email protected].

Meanwhile, Karen Susan, a regular customer at Yana, Kisumu is accusing the branch of selling her wheel lock nuts at an inflated price. She claims her driver was sold the nuts, which cost elsewhere Sh600 for Sh1500. “Why the high price,” asks Susan whose email is [email protected].

Conman dims KP clients’ lights

Only days after Mr Andrew Birai alleged that corruption was the order of the day in Nyamira’s Kenya Power offices  and hinted that the vice was perpetrated by brokers, John Diro has stepped forward with details of one of the possible culprits.

Mr Diro claims that he is aware of a man who has been busy conning the power firm’s  customers in Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley region.

According to him, the con artist, whose name and mobile phone (currently switched off) contact he has, does so on pretext that he has powers to offer power-hungry Kenyans electricity connection not only with speed, but also at  a subsidised fee.

“The man has swindled millions of shillings from the unsuspecting Kenyans,” alleges Diro who says most of his victims are vulnerable elderly men and women.

“Last week, one of his victims succumbed to high blood pressure after being conned over Sh40,000,” he adds.

Diro is pleading with the management of Kenya Power and the police to track down this man and bring him to justice.

Diro can be reached on 0721129626.

Did your customer make the digital leap, GBS?  

On July 2, Nairobi resident, Irungu in a bid to bid analogue television goodbye acquired a digital decoder from Good News Broadcasting System (GBS). However, Irungu complained that the set-top box did no bring the expected good news. “I was promised it would decode 30 free-to-air channels (local and gospel), but two-and-half months down the line, the  deal has turned out a sham,” said Irungu of his decoder, which he bought at the GBS sales office on Koinange Street.

Irungu said two days after the purchase he visited the sales office after realising the machine wouldn’t work. “The two female attendants in the office insisted I have to ensure KBC1 channel has to be strong — which it was — to access the 30 channels.”

Did you help your customer make the digital leap, GBS?

Police disservice to the people 

Kenyans, says a parent, appreciate police traffic crackdowns because they are meant to make our roads safe. Such crackdowns, he adds, should have a human face to them; they should be conducted in a traveller friendly way. But they are not. “Recently, my daughter, a student was travelling from Nairobi to Meru. The matatu she was travelling in was stopped at Makuyu. The vehicle’s number plates were ripped off and its keys confiscated. The young girl was left stranded in what she clearly defined as the middle of nowhere at five o’clock in the evening.” Is this service to people, IG David Kimaiyo?

From fire into the frying pan: A crime victim’s story

The secret why the incidences of crime have been drastically reduced, according to the police is self explanatory as one crime victim, let’s call him ‘AK’, recently found out.

On July 19 2013 at around 9.10 am, five armed robbers accosted him on Mombasa Road just outside Bobmil factory. They bundled him into their vehicle and robbed him.

Interestingly, he says his ordeal at the hands of the gangsters, though painful, was shorter and less traumatising than the treatment he got later from the police.

Although he was rescued near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, he says officers at police station were unwilling to book the crime or record a statement.

The police at the report desk milked him every detail of the episode before referring him to Embakasi Police Station.

Here, the police again started stonewalling before finally declaring they had no jurisdiction, as the original crime was committed out of their precincts.

Yet again, AK was sent away with the advice that he should seek services from Industrial Area Police Station, where again, he made a spirited attempt to send him to Lang’ata police station.

CCTV footage

By this time, the criminals had, of course, driven away as far as they could perhaps leisurely.

After a lot of protests, the victim finally convinced the police to record his statement. The police agreed but warned him that since he did not have the villains’ registration number his case was would remain PUI (pending under investigation).

This was puzzling as even before they had asked a single question, the police had a mindset that the criminals could not be traced.

More than 14 days later, the police have done nothing besides recording AK’s statement. They have not even visited the bank,  where the victim suspects the gangsters trailed him from.

They also appear unwilling to review the CCTV footage of a bank ATM where one of the gangster’s withdrew money.

More puzzling is the police’s reluctance to request and review the CCTV footage of the cameras at Bobmil which must have captured his abduction.

“Could it be that the police are dragging their feet because some of the gangsters had handcuffs, a police like walkie-talkie and badges,” asks AK.

He adds: “Assuming this is the standard procedure all robbery with violence suspects go through, it’s no wonder then that victims do not bother reporting when attacked. They just accept and move on.”

This definitely is not the way to treat, crime victims, Inspector General David Kimaiyo. Or is it?