Kenya@what secretariat? What a cruel joke? Please tell us another

By Peter Kimani

Kenya: I have been waiting to read some “Correction and Clarification” in regard to a recent piece about Kenya@50 secretariat sending some folks home, as part of the new austerity measures.

I didn’t know there was a secretariat in place to start with, but now that I know there is one, I’m curious what their mandate would be.

And please don’t make me laugh by reminding me about that celebration on the night of December 12, last year.

If I remember right, I was still jet-lagged, having arrived hours earlier to witness the milestone. The rains discouraged me from heading out to Uhuru Gardens, so I put on the TV and turned up the volume. Some acrobatic act from school children – straight from a drama festival, and some without proper kit – did their thing before the main act, which happened to be a popular gospel singer on playback. Jesus Christ!

It would be a grave understatement to call it a sham, it was something worse.

I suspect I could have managed better just by placing a few calls within hours of arrival from my sojourns and assemble some performers.

So the idea that a permanent committee draws allowances just to sit and review those horrible video clips – I can’t think of any other possible tasks – must be some cruel joke.

But then, we have never displayed any seriousness towards our culture or history.

Presumably, Prezzo UK has notified the chief of that parastatal, since I suspect it has been gazetted as such, to surrender his 20 per cent pay cut.