NYS celebrities should have their bail. How hyenas will jeopardize Turkana oil dream. When will we learn disaster management?

The NYS “celebrities” should be allowed bail.

Fighting corruption in Kenya is beginning to look like a bad circumcision.

It is like we have been pretending to be asleep while listening with one ear

to the rumblings of a ghost under the bed. We wake up and want to run all 

over the house. Kitchen. Bathroom. Garage. Garden and back to the bedroom.

We need to be sure and procedural. All emotions aside and fix the rot decisively.

In this age of technology it is not fair to claim that the suspects may interfere with

 evidence. As long as they are not being held incommunicado, they can still interfere in 

some way even behind bars.The hurried nature of the cases may prove to be a 

disadvantage. Convictions take hard work to get.The investigators ought to have

 taken their time before rounding up suspects. Arrests basically mean disturbing the

 bee hive. You can expect some evidence to disappear because the arrested have 

friends in there. The denial of bail has been challenged and may successful. 

Regarding  the same fight, the order to suspend and vet all procurement officers

has been halted by the Labour Court. I fully support such an injunction.There is need 

to protect the dignity of all Kenyans from lynching by the public opinions or any other

 person.This gives an opportunity to government to rethink its strategy on fighting 

corruption. So much has been said about polygraph testing for instance without 

indicating the framework to be used. Such kind of procedure has no known success 

story. It may be a waste of time. It may lead to court battles. And many years down 

the line no success in fighting corruption. It may be necessary to state that all government

 ministries and departments have tenders to give. It is logical to conclude that all those

 tenders are awarded with a slice of corruption on top. Perhaps that is why the Head of State 

made a decision to vet afresh key procurement officers across government ministries. 

There has been push also to wrap in cabinet secretaries. Only time

will tell whether this political layer will be reached or not.

Kenya joins the league of oil producers…

Beloved Kenya has started to export her oil to the world.

I have heard pronouncements to the effect that the lives of Kenyans

will now change. All political talk I say. Kenya has exported billions worth

of minerals. If those have not added value to the Kenyan citizens,

I am not eager to imagine that the oil from Turkana will make any significant

change to Kenyan souls. But why does Africa send its oil out there? 

The refining capacity here in remains lower than consumption. Africa is still 

lagging behind in hydrocarbon technology and all that is required to refine crude. 

Nigeria with all its oil, its citizens have to contend with shortage of petroleum

as well as high prices. There has been unrest for many years in the Niger delta 

because of conflict about exploitation of natural resources there. Just recently, 

the Turkana people were assured by government that they will get a fair share 

of the oil revenue. But what constitutes oil revenue? Considering the fact that 

drilling for oil is a capital intensive affair, the question of what is to be shared 

or how to arrive at it will always be controversial. Besides, kenyan oil is at a trial 

phase and it may take years before any meaningful returns are realized .

Therefore, some utterances by leaders will serve to whet appetites unnecessarily.

There is also the question of protecting the oil reserves, which at this point doesn't 

look like it is receiving adequate attention. There are all manner of people roaming 

up the north like hyenas sniffing around for oil. If care is not taken soon you will hear 

of cartels, which will deprive the licensed companies from making meaningful business.

This will jeopardize community benefits and make chaos a reality.

Recent government appointments…

There are a lot politicians in the list released by president Kenyatta.

Anyway, after the handshake some eating was expected soon after.

There was no deviation from the norm. Politicians will always get somewhere to hang in.

Sometimes it feels like there are just too many institutions whose work is not even well known.

Such like Kenya Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council or the Lake Basin Development

 Authority. What do they do really?

Plane crash in Nyandarua…

It is sad to lose any life. Air transport is fairly safe going by statistics available.

But is Kenya keeping all standards required in the aviation sector?

Has corruption permeated this sector as well?

How adequate is aircraft maintenance?

I know for sure that international flights have high standards in terms of maintenance

and crew training.  Not much is known about the quality situation in local routes.

It feels as though the rerouting of the Flysax Flight from intended landing at Wilson airport

to Jomo Kenyatta airport left the pilot at a loss in adjusting to the new route.

Then came in poor response to the disaster. It is ridiculous to take so long to find a plane that

was surely missing within Kenya itself. Why not pick the coordinates directly from where

the radar severed touch with it and move quickly? The Abardares, where the plane wreckage 

was found is not exactly a mountain (in comparison to Mount Kenya).The shameful hours taken

to reach the sight of crash has necessitated it to be referred as a mountain. But it’s well with 

our souls. My condolences to family and friends of the departed.