We can't stop rain, but can avoid its destructive streak

The much-awaited rains are here. And Although meteorologists have warned that they won't last long, they are pounding hard and furious, with no signs that they will abate soon.

Needless to say, there is perceptible collective sigh of relief. The farmers are celebrating, herders can be heard whistling joyfully in the fields and there is an expectant smile on the faces of urban residents who have been buying food at inflated prices.

homeless

But some people are not smiling. These are victims of floods ¡ª people who have been rendered homeless in various parts of the country.

No wonder, some associate the onset of rains with suffering death and destruction. This needn¡¯t be the case. While we cannot stop rains, we can avoid living in flood and landslide-prone areas. If anything, meteorologists always ask people to leave such areas whenever they sense danger, until it is safe.

But there are usually a few who fail to take these warnings seriously. The Government has a duty to keep them safe ¡ªthrough persuasion or force.

Voice of reason from the Coast

It is true that there is a trail of historical injustices at the Coast Province that ought to be addressed by the Government, says a concerned Mombasa resident who requests anonymity.

However, he says, the road that the so called Mombasa Republican Council has taken in demanding for justice is full of potholes.

"What happened to the tolerance of the coastals? Why are they engaging in acts of violence against Government," he asks and adds: "As people of coastal Kenya we stand to lose big by advocating for violence. Let us avoid igniting hatred and violence on the pretext of demanding for our rights."

Kenyans, he argues, don¡¯t seem to have learnt anything from the violence that rocked the country after the disputed elections in 2007. He adds that he was taken aback recently when a teacher went to school while donning an MRC T-shirt.

He urges the MRC and coastal communities to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Government instead of resorting to violence. "Only a fool disregards what so many people are telling him/her, especially if it is being repeated like an ominous refrain," he concludes.

Queries over building in Kilimani

Some residents of Kilimani have a litany of complaints over what they term illegal development on LR1/1159 at the corner of Komo Lane and Wood Avenue. They say upon completion, the building will have a plot ratio of over 1:4, which is two times the legal building ratio in the area. It covers, they allege, over 80 per cent of the plot instead of the maximum 35 per cent and is set back 1.5m along Komo Lane instead of the mandatory 6m.

The parkings are provided only in the basement and the community is concerned that tenants of the building will have to park outside along the roads causing obstruction and security risk. The contractor is further accused of hastily putting up dust screens on parts of the building following complaints and interfering with NCC water pipes, leading to chronic water shortage in Kilimani.

"duped"

They further claim that members of the community who were interviewed during the Environmental Impact Assessment report were "duped with drawings". "Can the council please intervene," they plead through their representative Hezekiah Kamau, who can be contacted on 0708345615.

DON¡¯T YOU FORGET

Has men¡¯s cry reached your ears, Dr Shaban?

In the recent past, Maendeleo Ya Wanaume Organisation chair Nderitu Njoka has been having a very hectic time. He has been running up and down attending to battered men. Cases of husband abuse, he has told us, are on the rise. According to him over one million men are assaulted by their wives every year. However, as we wrote on this column on January 16, Mr Njoka can¡¯t achieve much because although he is willing, he lacks the wherewithal. In fact, he alleges discrimination by the Ministry of Gender, which funds women empowerment via Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation. The Government, he has said more than once, has refused to give Maendeleo ya Wanaume even a penny. Just why won¡¯t Government fund Njoka, Dr Naomi Shaban, Minister for Gender?

Hospital hit by power woes

For the past one month or so, reports Justin Njagi, the Coast region has experienced serious power outages. The Coast Provincial General Hospital has also been affected by the intermittent power failure.

Needless to say, the patients are suffering too whenever hospital wards are thrown into darkness. He speculates that the risk is greater for patients on equipment powered by electricity. Njagi suggests that due to the precariousness of the grid power, the Ministry of Medical Services should put up a powerful back-up generator at the hospital. Isn¡¯t that the obvious thing to do?

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Point of Order
How TSC is putting teachers to shame

A teacher, Mr Joshua Too, is accusing the Teachers Service Commission of deliberately exposing teachers to shame.

He claims that TSC has always insisted on sending teachers¡¯ payslips through the head teachers.

But some head teachers, he says, end up divulging the teachers¡¯ pay details to third parties.

Just before the schools closed for April holidays, he claims to have found the head teacher being helped by a "form four leaver BOG teacher" to tear apart payslips from a larger A3 sheet and heard the school head make a comment that annoyed him.

"Mr ... earns more yet he is lazy... you are better than most of these TSC guys," the head teacher allegedly told the Form Four graduate.

"It is usually worse when a teacher¡¯s net pay exceeds that of the head teacher as one easily becomes his/her enemy," laments Too.

In this day and age when technology rules supreme, TSC, he says, should avoid shaming teachers needlessly.

"TSC should join the GHRIS- Government human resource information system to enable us get our payslips online just like the other public servants," he suggests.

¡®Police behind Mombasa Road traffic snarl-ups¡¯

Ms Joyce Mkaluma has been using Mombasa Road for the past one month and is very unhappy with endless traffic jams at the at the Nyayo round-about.

She blames the mess on traffic police officers at the round-about who she claims do not "open the way for vehicles on the highway heading to the city as frequently as they do for those from Nairobi West, Industrial Area and Upper Hill".

Motorists on the highway therefore end up wasting a lot of time.

Joyce says it takes more that one hour to drive from South C to the city.

Meanwhile, Mr Henry Langat says that recent road repairs between Museum Hill round-about and Uthiru leaves a lot to be desired.

"I can see that the resealing of the surface was done poorly, the stretch between Chiromo and Kangemi has started peeling off and cracks are forming. The repairs were done barely six months ago," he says.

He wants the Roads minister to blacklist the contractor and sack the engineer involved in rehabilitating the highway for poor workmanship and wastage of public funds.