Palaver - 20.04.11

Palaver

Mike Mbuvi aka ‘Sonko’ recently had his share of problems in Parliament regarding his dress code. On Monday, matters of dress code came up at The Hague.

A handful of lawyers for the Ocampo Six appeared in traditional black gowns and white horsehair wigs.

But it looks like Pre-Trial Chamber II presiding judge Justice Ekaterina Trendafilova was not amused by this manner of dressing. She paused briefly at the end of the hearing to pass judgement on their traditional wigs. "This is not the dress code of this institution. In this quite warm weather maybe it will be more convenient to be without wigs," she said.

Kenyans have very little to smile about come the Easter break. Reason: The rising cost of living as a result of spiralling food and fuel prices.

Yesterday, protest rallies were held in different parts of the country with many demonstrators dismissing Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to reduce excise duty on kerosene and diesel by 30 and 20 per cent as too little too late.

While external factors are to blame, we are equally guilty as a nation for allowing our leaders to discuss politics day in and day out instead of challenging our policymakers to be ahead of time to avert such crises.

We hope road accidents are not back. Over the last four days, nearly 15 people have lost their lives. At the weekend, five people died on the Kilifi-Mombasa road and just yesterday, nine others died after a matatu rolled on the Narok-Kisii road. This is worrying given the fact that many people will be travelling this weekend for the Easter break.

We are quick to blame the traffic police for this deathly mess but, let’s face the facts, many of our drivers behave as if they have a date with death! Let’s make our roads safe this Easter and always.

And finally...

A GerMariella Frostrop, the television and radio presenter, has declared the only way to avoid a sagging bosom is to wear a bra in bed. Now a bra has been specifically designed to be worn at night, to keep breasts lifted and separated while the wearer sleeps. The bra’s inventor, Rachel de Boer, said it worked for her by preventing wrinkles developing and her breasts from sagging.

—[email protected]