Born to Die ( too soon )

Having lived in a country where Healthcare is free at the point of need and coming to Kenya where it is not, highlights the enormous strains placed on ordinary people when ill. 

While Heathcare insurance is available to the few, the majority cannot afford it. When they become ill, they struggle on without medical care and as a result live poorer lives and die younger.

Ideally an ill person should receive medical attention as soon as possible but when payment intervenes the patient has to decide without any medical knowledge whether they can manage without seeing a doctor. As a result the treatment when received is often too little and too late and the outcome is poor. 

Kenya has a very high incidence of Obesity and Diabetes due to the poverty of the diet. high in sugar, ugali, rice and oil.

Some life/ death statistics 

Life expectancy –Kenya 2025 Males 63.8  -Females 64.69 years 

                              UK    2025  Males 79.     Females 83 years    

Neonatal death rate (2023) per thousand live births: 

Kenya  21 per thousand 

UK. 2.9 per thousand

Don’t the people of Kenya deserve better? 

According to a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO), Kenya has a doctor-to-population ratio of about 1:16,000, far below the recommended ratio of 1:1,000. 

This shortage leads to overburdened healthcare professionals and potentially compromises the quality of care, particularly for specialized services.

Eradicating Flame Wars in Social Media

In a recent Facebook post, a graphic with photos of historical computer programming language authors was ridiculed and criticized for "leaving out" some languages and their authors.

A commentator named Sree Mahalakshmi employed a substantially different approach in his response.

He chose to expand upon and clarify the history, instead of engaging in a stupid flame war, as many of the earlier commenters had done.

This type of response in social media could give the platforms new life.

The original thread poster really generated a great new "movement" in many respects.

 The Scourge of the Boda Boda

On Friday April 19th 2024, the Daily Nation published an article entitled, Motorcycling, movement gains momentum, by Mr Van de Grisjparde, the CEO of Kibo Africa Motorcycles. 

In it, he describes Motorcycling in Kenya:

    It is the roar of a growing culture founded on a love of freedom, thrill of adventure and desire to make commute (sic) faster and more affordable in hard times. Beyond the practical appeal lies the thrill of the open road and the liberation that can only be experienced on two wheels- a sense of freedom and expression. 

After excelling the virtues of motorcycling he expresses a word of caution. – of course Freedom comes with greater responsibility and caution ( he means risk – my word) and emphasized the importance of wearing protective gear ( knowing full well that the majority of motorcyclists cannot afford the gear that runs into many hundreds of thousands of shillings. 

What are the Facts? 

Data from the National Police Service shows that between May 2022 and October 2023, 2384 people were killed and 5581 seriously injured while 2031 escaped with minor injuries 

In the publication, Nation, Thursday March 14th 2024 -Nation Highways of Death: 

the article says ‘Most deadly roads for motorcyclists -License to Kill - Deadly, boda bodas leave a trail of broken limbs (and deaths - my addition).

This is an irresponsible article by someone who should know better. It should never have been published. It creates a false impression of the Boda Boda. The truth is that these vehicles maim and kill thousands of our finest young people every year, a burden that the country can ill afford.

But there is a solution.  The motor bike comes with an accessory- the sidecar that converts it from an unstable two-wheeled death trap into a stable three -wheel people carrier.

If the governmet has any concern for the safety of its future generations, it will consider subsidizing this. 

June 20th 2024 Kenya’s day of Infamy

An unprecedented run on the Kenya shilling, reaching a low of 127 against the US Dollar was one of the factors that prompted President Ruto to introduce a swingeing Finance bill that included the taxing of sanitary towels. In response, thousands of Protesters, mainly young college-age students. using TikTok, the Gen Zs took to the streets to register their dismay at the price hikes – A demonstration two days earlier went off without an incident but on the 20th of June, everything changed. No one knows who in the government or Police decided to change their tactics but change they did. As the protesters became more brazen, the police first resorted to water cannon and tear gas and finally resorted to shooting down unarmed young men in cold blood. Over 300 young people lost their lives. It was a grim reminder of Kenya's history of violent elections.