As President Uhuru Kenyatta doles out goodies to various groups to cushion them from the coronavirus pandemic, 1997 retiree teachers say the head of state ought to have remembered them. The retired teachers are between the ages of 70 and 80. Many others have died. The genesis of the matter is that the courts ruled the teachers be paid Sh42 billion in both pension and salary arrears. However, TSC bosses have taken them around in circles and refused to pay. At one time, the courts ruled a former Pensions boss be arrested. Some teachers are now appealing to Uhuru to listen to their pleas, saying they served the country diligently and faithfully. Is TSC boss Nancy Macharia listening?
Still on the President’s orders, just what positive outcome will the regional containment directive achieve now that hundreds, if not thousands still find their way into and out of Nairobi? Well, in circumventing the ban, Kenyans have devised ways of crossing the checkpoints unnoticed, some with the help of the police. Some persons who found themselves outside the border by the appointed 7pm claim they ‘bought’ their way through the roadblocks as long as they were on foot. Others took shortcuts – famed as panya routes – to access or leave Nairobi. With a senior cop intimating to Corridors that there are not enough personnel to man all the escape routes, nitpickers say the containment idea may be as good as stillborn.
And while we're at it, criticism continues to mount on the effectiveness of the dusk-to-dawn curfew, especially in Nairobi's informal settlements. Corridors has established some residents are going about their business well past midnight. Shops remain open past the curfew. Bars are also open in some areas while in others revellers partake of their drinks behind closed doors, just in case. Apparently, law enforcement officers are not visiting these areas, giving an advantage to members of the public to continue with their normal operations that now endanger lives.
For how long will the greed of some MCAs from a county in Western come first at the expense of their voters’ needs? This is the question on the lips of many aware of some MCAs who have besieged a Finance CEC to pay them kickbacks to pass a supplementary budget with relief to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. The county lawmakers have been streaming to the CEC’s office to quote their price for passing the crucial bill due to be tabled this week. The besieged official told Corridors he wonders how heartless some leaders can be, even at such a time of peril.
