Saturday, September 19, 2009

The sorry state of Mama Ngina Children’s Home

The story of Mama Ngina Children’s home as seen on NTV news is a very sad one. It just shows how deep the level of greed and corruption by administrators running government institutions has sunk. It is shocking that an administrator of a home for orphans can rent out staff houses and even a school that was built for the orphans of the home, the school is run privately so the orphans cannot study in the school. The worst is food and other basic necessities of the home rotting in the store. That one is now not only greed, it is wickedness! Most of the stuff is from donors and well wishers, so why deny children the stuff???? For heavens sake there is food shortage in the country so why would anyone in their right mind, let food rot in a store!!!

This is a wake up call for the Government to investigate activities of children’s homes in the country and ensure all is well. Most homes for orphaned children are visited during festive season especially in December. Many of us Kenyan’s forget they exist until December when we have something to share or when we are reminded by organizations or religious groups. We only worry about the problems we face, politics but forget the ones without parents and are left in the hands of administrators who turn out to be wicked like the one running Mama Ngina Children’s home, actually this is one administrator who should be punished and shamed publicly.

This home should be returned to its former glory to give the children hope for a better future.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Judge Ringera, is it not time to quit?

I cannot imagine what is in the mind of judge Ringera after he has been rejected by the Kenyan parliament. Leave or not leave. But one thing is clear; he has been rejected not only by the Kenyan parliament but the whole world. He is not a performer; why lie. The man is behaving like a hunted animal cornered but could still see few ways of escape. However, whether he escapes or not, he is already an injured animal that cannot run far before other hunters hit again. The best option is to through in the towel. The more he stays on, the more he remains hunted.

The dying animals vs the hungry Kenyans

Did you see what I saw? The government of Kenya has been buying malnourished cows from the farmers from drought stricken parts of the country to save farmers from losses and allow them to restock once the rains come. Each cow goes for Kshs.8,000/=I good idea though. But before purchased animals could be slaughtered, a good number of them die and the carcass buried. This concedes with the hunger that is wide spread in the country to the point that people are feeding themselves on wild fruits,rats,insects etc. Why can`t these cows be slaughtered immediately and the meet taken to the areas affected by food shortage? This to me looks like a corruption avenue whereby the government officers handling the transactions with the farmers fake the number of animals bought and claim that some have died and buried. Who is reconciling the records of the purchased number, cash paid, the dead and buried with the numbers that eventually reach the slaughter houses.
The second problem is on what quality of meet is in our markets. That I would not like to anticipate but there are high chances that things are not right.

Plight to the Promised Land; The `Kiberians` get new homes

They passed me along the Mbagathi road, Nairobi on 16th September 2009 to Langata new homes in government Lorries as they shout in celebration. The people of Kibera slum are now moving to the new “Posh” area of Southland Nairobi. Yes it was great joy both to them and those who witnessed the plight.
What about the terms and the deal for the new homes. Rent; Kshs.500/=, Electricity and Water; Kshs.500/=. Looks cheap but for how long will they be paying rent. Is it not time that they own their own houses as well? Is there a written agreement that the rent will remain as so? Or will another regime come to change the terms? These are the questions that many are asking. If you ask me, the whole issue looks like a means to get rid of the slum and not necessarily to help the residents. I may be wrong to predict this but soon the electricity and water bill will be increased. There are high chances that these utilities will be abused as the residents misuse/overuse them. From that point, the charges will surely go up and the residents will be required to dig deeper into their pockets.
This is what I thought would have been real help; the tenants would have been given the option to buy the houses in terms of mortgages and other financial arrangements. That in my view would have been the best option that will have a lasting benefit to these low income people. But making them pay rent that is likely to increase in future may not work out. I see this as one other cleverer political move.