TALKING POINT

Past government regimes have in many occasions been referred to as barking dogs that seldom bite when it comes to fighting corruption. Powerful figures in government, or the big fish as some may put it, have in the recent past looted the public purse and walked away untouched. The judiciary and the office of the director of public prosecutions have been puppets and toothless when it comes to putting corrupt individuals to where the rightfully belong; behind bars. However, the current Jubilee administration is making its intentions clear in taming this malicious virus that has crippled economic development in the country. A lot of taxpayers' money have been lost in corruption scandals such as Anglo-leasing, Goldenberg scandal, Laico Regency Hotel sale and procurement of BVR election kits for the previously held general elections in the country, just to mention a few. It is however worth noting that in the past few months the government seems to have found its claws, by summoning,...

Last week on Wednesday i almost witnessed a road accident after a public service vehicle almost hit a pedestrian along Race Course Road, near OTC Bus station. The middle aged man was crossing the road on a zebra crossing towards Tuskys supermarket when a 14 seater  matatu approached the pedestrians zebra crossing area in full speed, ignoring the man, who was carrying a heavy carton on his left shoulder. The pedestrian in the process had to part ways with his load to save his precious life. The matatu rammed into the carton box and destroyed all the utensils that were in it, leaving the young man counting losses. The last time i checked, traffic rules clearly state that motor vehicles should slow down while approaching zebra crossings, even if there are no people crossing the road at that moment. This is to avoid pedestrians being hit by vehicles on the roads. However, this is not always the case in Nairobi. Over speeding is the norm of the day and psv matatu drivers are just aft...

When a farmer is preparing his  shamba for the planting season, he clears all the weed with their roots. This is to prevent the stubborn weeds from springing up again to compete for nutrients with the crops. Indeed President Uhuru Kenyatta's move to talk about addressing the country's fast rising wage bill is vital. A lot of public funds are spent on recurrent expenditure compared to development projects. The country's debt currently stands at 1.9 trillion shillings.The last report published by the Auditor General indicated that about 300 billion shillings of public funds are lost to corruption annually and with a budget of 1.6 trillion, the country's wage bill stands at 458 billion! Indeed it's high time this thorny issue was addressed. For a country that is gearing towards rapid economic growth, it is important to cut down recurrent costs, focus more on development projects in order to achieve economic prosperity. But will the proposed move to reduce the civi...

Last week, during the planned ODM party elections, i watched in disbelief as the Kasarani Gymnasium turned into a chaotic scene,one that should not be identified with one of the largest political parties in the country. Goons disrupted the whole exercise that was well planned, a lot of taxpayers money lost. Yes, taxpayers money.ODM Elections Board chair,  Hon. Judy Pareno confirmed during an interview with Citizen TV that the party spent 30 million shillings to plan for the elections. Political parties are funded annually using tax paid by the citizens. What remains a mystery to me and many other Kenyans is how come  one week after the "men in black" who orchestrated the chaos have not been arrested? Not even one of them? The reason why i am saying it is a mystery that the goons have not been brought to book is because, apparently, the "men in black" have been working at the Orange House and can be identified to certain political bigwigs in ODM. The ugly sce...

Where there is smoke, there is fire. Employers in Kenya have in the recent past raised the red flag over Kenyan private and public universities breeding incompetent graduates. Many graduates have lost jobs, with their employers complaining of them not being able to deliver in the roles they have been assigned in the companies. But who is to blame for all this? As I was going through the Daily Nation newspaper on 4 th February 2014, I was greeted by some shocking investigative story on how students who fail in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations get admission in some private universities to pursue degree courses, contrary to the law. The story revealed that students who score as low as D (Plain) in KCSE get admitted to study degree courses in private universities. This is a clear indication that the universities are just after making money from students who do not qualify to join public universities through the Joint Admissions Board. With the rapi...

Today marks the second anniversary since the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) crossed the Kenya –Somali boarder to start the famous “Operation Linda Nchi” war against Al Shabaab militia forces in Somali. Somali has lagged behind economically because of the unending fierce civil war in the country, courtesy of the well-organized Al Shabaab terror group whose capital of operation was Kismayu before AMISOM and KDF soldiers captured the town and flushed the militia men out of their stronghold. Onto my point, methinks sending our soldiers to fight Al Shabaab in Somali was the biggest mistake our government ever made. Ever since the “Operation Linda Nchi” in Somali started, Kenya has faced a series of terror attacks in its major towns; Nairobi, Mombasa, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera. The Westgate Mall attack on Saturday 21 st September 2013 is still fresh in our minds because of its huge magnitude and it left at least 67 Kenyans dead and over 200 others seriously injured. The attack was one...