Monday, 12 October 2026
Kenyan Digest

THE CUTTING EDGE - Daily Nation

2 min read
Published

QUARANTINE: As somebody who knows a lot about contagious diseases, having volunteered during an Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Kipng’eno Mosonik can’t help faulting some Kenyans for their stubborn streak. The epidemiologist is not amused that some people are arguing about whether or not there should be a quarantine yet the coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the economy. “It’s a personal obligation to accept the restrictions in order to protect our family members and 50 million other Kenyans. If the people who were returning from overseas had taken it as a personal responsibility, we would be working and our children would be at school.” His contact is
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EVOLVING LANGUAGE: Really out of tune is not the song “Suzana”, also known as “Senje”, by the famous globe-trotting Kenyan group Sauti Sol, but Djivetti Mulama, who has called for its ban for allegedly glorifying incest. “Djivetti is either overreacting or overthinking about the new song. I do agree that senje is the Luhya word for the sister of someone’s dad. But over the years, its meaning has been expanded to include the house help, any grown-up woman or a beautiful woman. It’s high time he accepted the changing meanings of the word and moved on. I believe Sauti Sol used the word in their song to mean a beautiful girl and not an aunt.” His contact is

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MASKED: The message to get Kenyans to wear face masks to curb the spread of Covid-19 is reaching the intended audience, notes Joseph Ndilinge, but he has some concerns. “The masks have become decorations for some people, who find it hard to keep them where they are supposed to be. Also, some are not big enough to cover the mouth and nose.” Joseph wants the government to enforce standards for the gear. He is also concerned that some people bribe their way out after being arrested so as not go into quarantine and continue to pose a danger to the masses. His contact

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TOWERS OF ANALOGUE: The failure by public universities to embrace modern technology is the height of irony, says Thomas Yebei. “It’s really surprising that, at a time when almost everybody is migrating communication online to tame Covid-19, the universities can’t conduct virtual lectures despite churning out thousands of ICT graduates every year. As private institutions go on with virtual classes, the public ones are not. Can Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha order the vice-chancellors to start virtual learning programmes?” His contact is

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