THE CUTTING EDGE - Daily Nation

RAILWAY TO NOWHERE: When the standard gauge railway was extended to Suswa in Kajiado County recently, there was sharp criticism, with some people describing it as the railway to nowhere. However, George Forest begs to differ with them, particularly on this Nairobi-Suswa segment, which, he says, "is not such a bad idea, after all". What he finds laughable, though, is the 20-kilometre railway line running from Suswa towards Narok. According to him, this one ends up "nowhere", and yet the cost of building a kilometre of the line has been estimated at Sh1 billion. "As Mt Kenya leaders have lobbied the government to revive the old Nanyuki line, why can't their Maa counterparts also appeal for the SGR line to be extended to Narok Town, now that it is half-way done? Think of the great boost to the world-famous Maasai Mara tourism circuit!" His contact is

HARD TIMES: There are some unmistakably clear signs that the country is going through difficult economic times, remarks Constant Wamayuyi, empathising with his fellow Kenyans, who are experiencing tough struggles to make ends meet. A clear manifestation of things going really bad, he adds, are the numerous companies that are closing up shop, leaving many people jobless. "We are losing investors each day. This is a big blow to the economy, and as a country, we need to take this matter seriously and begin to look for remedies. We must plan well. We must make sound choices on what we are doing. We must now get our priorities right." The next step, he adds, is to implement whatever approaches are chosen in order to solve these problems as a country. His contact is

HAMMER ERA: The Daily Nation issue of February 17, Chris Kiriba notes, had a whopping six pages listing the properties that are facing the auctioneer's hammer. The auctioneers, he adds, are chanting themselves hoarse in a bid to extract the last cent from the bidders. "The rich are now also feeling the pinch, which Wanjiku (the ordinary Kenyan) became used to a long time ago. In this business, the rich are also crying, as nobody is spared. The trending auctioneering craze, he states, is what Ehsan Sehgal, a Dutch-Pakistani poet, had in mind when he wrote that "the world is an auction house where every person becomes a victim of the auction". His contact is

IVORY TRADE: One of the most enduring images of former President Daniel arap Moi, who died recently, J.K. Munyua recalls, is the picture of him igniting a pile of 12 tonnes of elephant tusks in 1989, which was globally lauded as a major gesture against ivory exports. He was, therefore, stunned after the man's death to realise that there was this contradictory symbol that he always carried and, which was a part of his identity. Says Munyua: "As an armchair conservationist, I was totally floored to learn just recently that Moi's rungu was carved out of ivory with gold plating. So, what was all that ivory burning about, if not to register his and the country's displeasure with all things to do with the use of ivory?" His contact is

BAR RACKET: The regulations on the licensing of bars and nightclubs are quite clear that they should never be located in the residential areas, but more specifically, near schools and other educational institutions. This is apparently not being enforced in Malindi Town, where, Paul Ndung'u reports, there is a noisy club right opposite a primary school. And, one of its specialties for the entertainment of its patrons, he claims, is playing obscene music late into the night. He and his neighbours have reported to Nema and the Internal Security ministry to get the owners to end the noisy racket that keeps children and adults awake, to no avail. He now wants the club's licence cancelled for the sake of the schoolchildren. His contact is

US ELECTIONS: The presidential election season in the US has already begun, with the party nomination debates going on, and keenly following the developments from Nairobi is Anil K. Shah. On the Democratic Party race, Anil says that contender Bernie Sanders "may be old, but he has stuck to his agenda for many years like a true patriot". On the other hand, challenger Elizabeth Warren "has been borrowing from Sanders's agenda, but claims to have more clarity". His impression of her is that she is rude and has just one ambition: to become the President. "She has already lied about her ethnicity and other in order to secure the minority vote. If she were a true leader, she would respect Sanders and seek to work with him to pose a real threat to incumbent Donald Trump." His contact

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