Nairobi News

Cart before the horse. Moses Kibor says he is impressed by the size of the modern library that the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) is constructing in Community area. “At its completion, it will truly be a magnificent building,” he notes. However, he feels that KNLS is putting the cart before the horse, noting that the reading culture among Nairobians, and Kenyans in general, going by recent statistics, is still poor.

He says that rather than sit for close to three hours poring through the contents of a book many a Nairobian prefer to spend the time watching a movie. “Wouldn’t it have been better if they (KNLS) first stepped up the campaign to encourage us to drop our DVDs for storybooks and textbooks?” he wonders.

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Obstructing vegetation. The sign at the Ngong Road-Valley Road roundabout is clear that motorists should not enter junction until exit is clear, says Grace Waitiki. This well-intended instruction, she however notes, has been rendered useless by the fact that vegetation has been planted on the land inside the roundabout in the name of beautifying it, but in essence it is obstructing the view of exit routes.

An such, she points out, a motorist coming from the city centre cannot see the road leading towards China Centre. “The county government or the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, whichever is in charge of the roundabout, should tell us what is important; our safety or the vegetation?” she poses.

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Exploitation rife. Exploitation of consumers is rife among estate shopkeepers, observes Wilson Koyier, who adds that this is an indicator that consumer protection organisations have failed in their mandate. Koyier is particularly concerned by shopkeepers in Kibera who adjust prices as often as they change their clothes.

“What justification does one have to sell a product as much as Sh5 higher than another shopkeeper only a stone’s throw distance away?” he asks adding that the culprits are usually very rude when questioned. He says he has a piece of advice for the likes of the Consumer Federation of Kenya: “Let them drop their Internet-based campaign and send officers on the ground to crack down on this wanton exploitation.”

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Jam-packed roads. Kennedy Nyamai says he cannot remember roads in the city being jam-packed at a time like this. In the past, he notes, driving in the city a week or two to Christmas was always a stress-free experience. His only logical conclusion, therefore, he says, is that, like him, most Nairobians have stop migrating to the countryside to celebrate with their relatives.

“With the cost of living sky-high there is hardly anything left to trickle to the extended family, let alone the nuclear one,” he says. He adds that his family will mark this Christmas at their city home and encourages those who will be around and have more than enough to share with the less fortunate.

Write to The People’s Champion at nnchampion@ke.nationmedia.com