Queries from departed 'Dear Leader’s' send-off

Njoroge Kinuthia

Let's revist the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Not the death per se, but how he was mourned. The mourning was unprecedented in recent history. It was as if an entire nation had suddenly been caught up in collective delirium. North Koreans would gather in the open in huge numbers in cities, towns and villages and weep uncontrollably – weep, weep for, as he was known, for departed ‘Dear Leader’. Some outside the country derisively referred to the mourning as ‘mass hysteria’.

Dictator

Whatever the case, there are scores of questions that beg for answers. Why did North Koreans mourn the death of the world-reknowned dictator with such fervor? Why did they mourn so for a man who brought them hunger and squalor? Why did they mourn with a passion for a man who armed their country with nuclear and isolated them from the rest of the world? Did North Koreans genuinely love their Dear Leader?

From the look of things, Kim’s dictatorship was only knownoutside his country. To his people he was, well, the Dear Leader. RIP Dear Leader.

ERC snoozes as gas dealers put on airs

Does the Energy Regulation Commission still exist? If so, is it still operational? These are questions that are bothering Mr John Makokha who notes that the local LPG gas sector is in a mess.

Despite endemic shortages and skyrocketing gas prices which never seem to bother ERC, Makokha laments there is something else making it difficult for customers to access gas.

And he is blaming it on players in the energy sector. He accuses them of engaging in "uncompetitive practices" that are hurting the ordinary Kenyan. With the onset of gas shortages and dealers have reverted to their bad old ways and are not accepting cylinders from their business rivals.

"As a result, if one goes to any outlet wanting Hashi gas, they are told it can only be sold to them if they exchange it with Hashi cylinders. Total and Kenol/Kobil only accept empty gas cylinders from either of the two companies (Total or Kenol/Kobil)," he claims.

What are you doing with your resources to check such practices? He asks ERC director general Kaburu Mwirichia to act.

When Pesa Point missed the point

Some machines are too complicated even for engineers like Mr Bramwel Wanyalikha. The engineer can’t just understand the behaviour of the Pesa Point cash machine at Capital Center, which he believes almost succeeded in ‘robbing’ him of his hard-earned cash. On December 29 last year, Wanyalikha had gone to withdraw Sh20,000.

He was unable to do so on his first attempt even after waiting for three minutes. He tried a second and succeeded without much effort.

Wanyalikha, however, had a gut feeling that something had gone amiss and decided to check his bank account balance using his mobile. He was right. The balance indicated that he had withdrawn Sh40,000, instead of Sh20,000. He immediately complained to Paynet Group, Pesa Point’s mother company.

Next morning

He was promised that investigations would be carried out the next morning and his money returned to his account, if his story was true. He also alerted his bank about the matter.

But despite making numerous enquiries, Paynet is yet to refund him the money.

How long, he wonders, does it take Pesa Point to refund money that has been wrongly deducted from their customers?

 

DON’T YOU FORGET

Did Kericho council stop cemetery trespassers?

Kericho resident Christopher Kamaina wrote to PointBlank on October 20 complaining that the Kericho Municipal Council cemetery had been turned into a ‘haven of immorality’. Kamaina claimed that there is adequate evidence that ‘immorality’ was going on in the cemetery. Used condoms, he claimed, were scattered all over the cemetery. And that isn’t all. Drug users have a perfect hideout in the cemetery and robbers lurk in the shadows at night waiting for their prey. Herders also find the unfenced graveyard a perfect grazing field and some Kericho residents "jump from grave to grave on their way home". Did the council end this insult of the dead?

Internet wherever you go? Not quite

Collins Angute was attracted by Orange Kenya’s colourful slogan: ‘Internet wherever you go’, so much that he bought their 21kb/s modem in Nairobi. When he returned to his Tana River base, however, he discovered that ‘wherever you go’ perhaps does not include Tana. Angute claims he could not access the internet, despite a green light flickering on the modem. "I called their customer care and spoke to Hellen and later Timbi who promised to call back but up to now I’ve not got any feedback," he says. If there is someone who can help him make use of his modem, his email is: [email protected].

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