Conflict of Business interest

There was exchange of hot blows between a grocery vendor and a paint hardware attendant in Juja town this morning.

John Kinuthia holding a bucket

The vendor’s goods were sprung with filthy water which was poured by this attendant. The fight started as a confrontation when the vendor who was seeking the reason for the act was responded with heart wrecking words.

“I was just asking the reason for destroying my vegetables but the hardware attendant started hurling insults on me,” said Mr. Kinuthia John. The fight was so aggressive that other attendants from the hardware, about two intercepted. One of them was striking Mr. Kinuthia on the head using a mob stick.

The hardware attendant said that the vendor’s business is obstructing their shop given that the vegetables are aligned in front of their paint business. “These vendors are an obstruction to our businesses and we have been trying to squeeze them out to no avail,” lamented Mr. Mwangi Jacob who was burning with anger.

filthy paint water

Asking Kinuthia how long they have been operating in the spot he said that he have been in these place way before the paint hardware was opened. “I have been operating in this place for over one year and a half, even before the shop was opened. More so, I have been paying fee to Kiambu County Council so I lack the reason why this attendant is pouring paint left overs on my veges.

angered mob in front of the hardware

The angry mob who were witnessing the drama started throwing words towards the shop asking that the attendant be sacked by doing such a heinous act to another business person.

 Mr. Muchangi Njeri who is a mechanic next to Kinuthia said, “This is poisoning the people by pouring paint left overs on human food, this attendant should be sacked, hii ni madharau bwana.”

8-4-4 curriculum

As a toddler I was lucky to have grown under strict watch of brother to my mother, that is my uncle, needless to say my biological father never took the initiative to take the responsibilities. That aside, this man, my uncle molded me to the lad I can take pride of today. He inflicted in me the right morals and discipline in order to blend in a society that so discriminate single parented kids, thanks to Uncle Njau Mwaniki.

courtesy of think stock

Now the last time we had a very engaging dialogue was when we were figuring out which college my cousin who was straight from high school could join. She had a bunch of brochure ranging from private to government colleges. The twist was what course she would undertake.

Mr. Njau Mwaniki took over, he pointed out a number of issues that I so felt he would have addressed the Cabinet Secretary of education. “The problem with this 8-4-4 system is that you people tend to be so indecisive what career path to take.” He pointed out.

He felt the urge for the government to review the syllabus and include a lot of craft in the system. “Now I do agree and congratulate you for the good grades, but you are stuck not knowing which profession you would take path. I mean for me I did have a chance to join high school but yet am multi-skilled given that I have done a lot of hands on work.”

He didn’t mean to intimidate us but overall after listening I came to agree that the subjects that were so relevant should be back. That remands me the last time I was in an art and craft class in standard four. We were taught how to make a pair of spectacles where we would bend a wire then use transparent paper for the lenses.

students in a library

What do I mean? Right now it is painfully bad that a mere fourth form graduate cannot mend a torn pair of panties, simply no skills. This was part of primary school curriculum that would have helped those in this era want to venture into fashion design, Home science to those in hospitality industry and many more subjects like music, wood work, electricity and any other relevant life skill subject.

Back to my point which is if these subjects can be brought forth to our 8-4-4 system we would have spirited professions who chose career path out of passion but not out of mere speculation of job industry. Anyway why would one worry of a job more than doing what they do have a passion for more so a hobby translates to a satisfying career!

Nairobi Matatu Culture

In the busy streets of Nairobi city, public transport has become part and parcel of the culture and a national heritage among the dynamic youthful residents in the city estates around.

Minibuses and buses with a range of passenger capacity between 14-52 people are commonly referred to as Matatus with crew members being a driver and a tout conducting business in a single matatu.

Since President Uhuru Kenyatta lifted the law banning the art which was prolific earlier on before the Michuki laws, the art dynamism is back with a fresh approach in the matatu industry.

modern art

It has actually become a battle within matatu industry to surpass one another in art and design in Nairobi. These public transport vehicles come inform of all art and design in order to represent the route they ply on and to have the most conspicuous designs on their vehicles.

Most of these graphic art are of music artists and influential leaders of all time perfectly drawn on the interior and exteriors of these buses. Some have simple but elegant use of color combination that is so attractive even to the blind.

Some have conscience striking messages on the outside which at times may not have any apparent meaning. Others are written biblical quotes and speeches given by political leader like Martin Luther king junior. This art and design competition among the matatus in Nairobi drew my curiosity and led me to search for the most striking graphic art and design.

A matatu operating on route 105, had this striking image of Moses holding the tablets that the Ten Commandments were engraved on. Subsequent, the book of exodus was written on the exterior of this matatu with black old English text font on a yellow background, it was literally the holy book on the move.

Route 44/45 will want to outshine route 9/11 in the arts and modern design for the perceived value this art have on customers. This competition has prompted the need for an art exhibition among the matatu industry which is held annually at the Kenyatta international convention center by the stakeholders in this industry. The matatu plying route 44/45 are best known with their comical quotes written in sheng, “BAZUKA” a matatu along this route had a quote that read, “HATUTAKI SUMBUA” meaning they do not want bothersome characters.

At Ronald Ngala Street, where these route 44/45 operate in town left me with spoilt for choice as “YOUNG MONEY” screeched to a stop with blasting music and constant hooting that could be heard as far as NEMA offices. “FAST AND THE FURIUOS” route 1960 Kayole clearly put to word how brutal they operate along Jogoo road. The matatus along the 1960 route are driven at a speed next to non in Nairobi perhaps next to a missile.

The interiors of these public vehicles are so customized that passengers do relish their ride to their destination. To start with the sits are bolstered with soft material that ensure a passenger is not thumped whenever the vehicle encounters potholes or bumps. Each passenger is ensured a comfy seat all along the journey to or from the city.

LCD display

Blasting music is the order of the day in these matatu. All around the streets music is heard from the vehicle ranging from all genres of music as they hoot to entice passengers into their matatu. The music systems fitted in these vehicles is out of the ordinary as crystal clear sound HD systems ensure you enjoy good music awaiting your destination.

Some of these matatus are also fitted with LCD visual display unit for the passengers to enjoy audio visual entertainment with others going to an extension of offering free Wi-Fi for internet connectivity. A matatu belonging to route 9 Eastleigh was fitted with 31 inch screen size that was tuned to soccer channels 24/7. This was an excellent marketing strategy considering how Kenyans are affiliated to English premier league or soccer as a sport.

UV dispays

The kind of music played in these vehicles is of diverse genre depending on what is currently on top music charts in main stream media or the taste of music the crew members of the vehicle are affiliated towards. But the most played genre is that of reggae followed by hip-hop. Some do play local music popularly known as Genge.

At night these vehicles turn out to be sailing ships on land due to the magnificent electric diodes running along the curves of the vehicle. Some run from the front side of the vehicle along both sides running down and completing the pattern with elegant display of this UV light that blink at different intervals and colors.

The tires rims are comparable to those of sports cars. Some vehicles do have double caps on these rims in that when the car starts to move an illusion is created in that the caps seem to rotate in opposite direction with the rotation of the entire wheel.

Some of these matatus have to gone an extent in attention seeking by fitting whistles in the exhaust pipes that make a very sharp noise when the vehicle accelerate. You can actually tell which vehicle is coming depending on the whistle coming from it.

Traffic still a nightmare on Thika Superhighway

It is the exceptional highway in east and central Africa stretching from Kenya’s capital Nairobi to Thika town approximately 42 kilometers.

the modern highway

Thika superhighway which consists of four lanes to and from Nairobi with a service lane on each side was completed in the year 2012 in a bid to solve the traffic jam between the two towns. Along the highway there are about three towns which most of its residents come to Nairobi every morning either to work or their business goods.

                                                            

According to a driver of the Chania travelers Sacco, James Muriuki who has operated on this route for about a decade says that, “when former president Mwai kibaki opened the construction of this superhighway, we thought that it would save us the traffic jam which is a chronic problem.”

But what could be the problem with the traffic situation along this great highway? Mr. Isaac Omollo who is a taxi driver mainly operating on the highway says that the traffic situation could be calmed if there is a regulation of the number of cars getting into town. “Take a case where twenty private vehicles get into town with only a driver. This is unnecessary considering there is a perfect public transport in place.”

He continued to note that during midday the traffic situation falls back in order pointing that personal vehicles to him were the cause every rush hour. “This jam is mainly in the rush hours of the morning and evening, so what does that indicate? People with personal cars getting to and off their work contribute a lot in the traffic jam.”

a section of the road towards Nairobi

Another interesting suggestions were from a TUK TUK driver who operate at OTC to Makongeni estate, Mr. Kamau Njoroge, “If am given a chance to address the President, I would ask him to relocate some sectors away from the CBD. I don’t think Gikomba, Muthurwa, and Jua kali markets are in the right locations.  

He argued that this markets should be relocated to the outskirts of the central business district in order to ensure that people entering the CBD had business to do the