THE CUTTING EDGE - Daily Nation

CORONAVIGILANCE: The panic over the quick spread of the coronavirus disease Covid-19, whose epicentre is Wuhan in China, Alnashir Walji notes, across the globe with tens of thousands of people infected and at least 3,000 deaths reported so far. Taking a direct hit are the international airlines, including Kenya Airways, which have had to suspend their flights to and from China. “Covid-19, like Ebola, is lethal, hence the need to immunise the people to prevent infection.” Alnashir is, therefore, full of praise for Kenyatta National Hospital and the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi for their increased vigilance in screening people for the virus. His contact is

DEHUMANISING CLAIM: Those claiming that Africans have immunity against Covid-19 because of the low incidence of infections on the continent “without providing scientific evidence such as the numbers exposed against the 1.4 billion Chinese” are doing the race immense harm, warns Prof Maina Muchara. According to the Nairobi-based university don, “it is a racist insult to project Africans as subhuman and not affected by a virus”. Most tragically, some Africans are falling into the same self-insult by taking this to be an achievement. His contact is

USELESS LIGHTS: Motorists on General Mathenge Road at Parklands and Ring Road in Nairobi, Shobhna Shah moans, have suffered snarl-ups due to road construction for the past six years. But as they were just beginning to breathe a sigh of relief, they have taken another blow to the face. “The traffic lights at the roundabout of General Mathenge and Ring Roads have, since being switched on last week, caused serious traffic jams on both sides of the road, sometimes hindering residents from driving out of their gates. The traffic flow was smooth until these traffic lights came on. Can the city traffic marshals station check and see how useless these traffic lights are?” Her contact is

BBI BABBLE: Even as he keenly follows the raging debate on the BBI with public engagement forums having been held in several counties, George Nganga feels that something is amiss. A resident of Gatundu South Constituency, whose MP, Moses Kuria, has been quite vocal about this, George would have liked to read the document and familiarise himself with the reform recommendations instead of having to just listen to what rival politicians say. “I have never seen a copy of the BBI report. Where can I find one in Gatundu South?” His contact is

APOLOGY: MultiChoice sincerely apologises to Patrick K. Mbugua, who complained that he had been disconnected even after he had fully paid his DStv subscription fee. Says marketing manager Philip Wahome: “We have since contacted Patrick and restored his service. This incident was occasioned by a technical hitch on our end. We urge all our customers that might face similar issues to contact us via our social care pages below for prompt resolution. Facebook: @DStvKenya, Twitter: @DStv_Kenya, Facebook: @GOtv_Kenya, Twitter: @GOtv_Kenya. We wish to assure all our other customers of our commitment to providing world-class services.” His contact is

LATIN BUG: Why this growing obsession with Latin mottos? asks Wanjiku Wanji. Some corporations, colleges and schools, she adds, mostly have their names on signboards and letterheads accompanied by some unfamiliar Latin phrases. “You will often find a rather simple phrase like ‘Hard work pays’ rendered as ‘opere solverit’. Instead of being bombarded with ‘est unitatis fortitudinem’ for ‘Unity is Strength’, we should have made it easier for the people with the Kiswahili version, ‘Umoja ni Nguvu’!” Her contact is

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